Instacart Rolls Out New Features to Help Its Shoppers Earn on Their Terms

In an effort to give its shoppers the information they need to earn money how and when they want, Instacart is rolling out a suite of updates that will better guide those shoppers through the company’s shopping experience.

A new batch access summary will allow shoppers to easily check the status of their device and account directly in the Shopper app for factors including GPS signal, internet connection, customer rating, retailer access, Cart Star status and eligibility for specialty batches. A new batch access website will also let shoppers know how to increase their batch eligibility. 

Additionally, shoppers can now see the estimated time it will take to see a batch at nearby stores. A pop-up will show a list of nearby busy stores and the estimated time to see a batch, which can help shoppers know which stores are most likely to have available batches the soonest.

“We want to support shoppers by removing as much guesswork from the shopping experience as possible,” said John Adams, VP of product at Instacart. “These new features are intended to give shoppers a better understanding of what impacts their access to batches, as well as tools to help them customize their experience and make the most informed decisions when earning on the platform.”

Other new capabilities include:

Hiding batches: Shoppers now have the ability to remove an unwanted batch from their batch acceptance screen with a simple swipe. Hiding a batch has no impact on their ability to accept other batches, and the batch will be shown again if the pay increases. Shoppers will always be able to return to the batch and accept it if they change their mind.

Hiding stores with less demand: Shoppers can now customize their in-app map to hide stores that are unlikely to have batches within the next 30 minutes. This helps prioritize moving to stores where shoppers are more likely to see available batches sooner. Even though stores with less demand are hidden from the map, they will still be able to see batches from those stores if batches become available.

[Read more: "Instacart Eases Shoppers’ Burdens With New Features"]

San Francisco-based Instacart partners with more than 1,400 national, regional and local retail banners to deliver from 80,000-plus stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. In September, Instacart started trading under the ticker CART following a $30 per share price set for its initial public offering (IPO).