New Instacart Features Makes it Easier to Actually Get a Delivery

Instacart grocery delivery is one of the most used services right now during the coronavirus pandemic. But being able to find a delivery slot is very difficult in some areas and just completely impossible in others. In NYC I haven’t been able to find anything in the last two weeks, and even a previous order was canceled.

There are good reasons for time slots being so hard to find. Orders have surged unexpectedly during the pandemic and Instacart has not been able to hire enough workers to keep up. The company says it has seen an increase of 300% year to year in recent weeks. Average customer basket size on Instacart is also up by more than 25% month-over-month as consumers across North America continue to stock up on staples and everyday essentials.

Then there’s the safety issue for Instacart shoppers. While we stay safe at home, they are the ones going to supermarkets and picking out items off the shelf. Workers went on strike recently and Instacart made changes to improve their safety.

So now let’s look at the new features that Instacart has introduced. You can check your app to see if they are available in your area. If you don’t have an account, you can sign up here.

Fast & Flexible

With Fast & Flexible, customers no longer need to check for delivery slots, but can just place an order and choose to have it delivered by the first available shopper. This option gives you a window of a few days, but no specific delivery time. That shouldn’t be a big issue if you are staying at home anyway. Instacart says that the Fast & Flexible feature has increased available delivery windows by 50%. This feature is available for all orders except those containing alcohol purchases.

Order Ahead

Instacart is also introducing a new Order Ahead feature that allows customers to now place orders up to two weeks in advance. The previous Order Ahead functionality only allowed customers to select delivery windows up to seven days ahead. This new functionality allows customers to build their digital cart well in advance of when they need their groceries or goods. It is available today in a number of high demand locations, and will be rolling out across North America to all customers in the coming weeks.

In addition to the new features announced today, the company has also expanded its shopper community over the last two weeks, growing from 200,000 to more than 350,000 active shoppers to better serve customers. In addition, Instacart has introduced a significant number of new customer and shopper product features over the last month in response to COVID-19 including: