Ahead of IPO, Instacart Bolsters Grocery Tech Platform, Including New Caper Smart Shopping Cart Features
Today, Instacart launched a slew of new updates to its grocery technology platform, enhancing capabilities across its white label digital commerce platform, its AI-powered search capabilities, and new features for its Caper Cart smart shopping cart. The new feature set release marks a further consolidation of what the company has acquired over the past few years as it transforms itself from the first personal shopping service to a technology arms dealer for grocers.
Another key development was around the company’s white-label commerce platform, Instacart Storefront. The company, which counts Costco among others as Storefront platform customers, offers access to Instacart’s machine learning technology, access to its white label mobile app, and various other features. The company also talked about its ability to connect online information and the app to in-store shopping with a custom filter list, highlighting in-store promotions and discounts, and enabling customers to use in-store loyalty cards.
This spring, Instacart rolled out AI-powered conversational search on its website and now it’s tweaking it into the in-store experience through an app. According to Instacart, the app will give customers access to ChatGPT integration through search, alongside Instacart’s product data and proprietary AI models.
Finally, the company announced a number of improvements to its smart shopping cart Caper Cart. The new updates will allow customers to order made-to-order items like deli sandwiches or custom cakes directly from their Caper cart, and will allow merchants to offer incentives like coupons and points for completing actions like adding certain items to cart or trying a Caper Cart for the first time. The company also introduced the Caper Cart dock, a place to charge and store Caper Carts.
This move is further evidence of the strategic pivot I wrote about two years ago, when Instacart transformed itself into a provider of technology solutions for grocers:
With the move, Instacart adds another tool to its growing arsenal of e-commerce and in-store technology solutions aimed at grocers at a time when many are beginning to question their relationship with the company.
… as Instacart expands its business technology solutions, I expect we will increasingly see its flagship shopper service cut from its technology as it looks to serve larger retailers who want greater control over customer relationships. Since the beginning of the pandemic, many grocers have begun to withdraw and stop their delivery services, which means a rapidly growing market for technological solutions. My guesswe are preparing for an IPO in the near future.
And, just in time, the new product line comes just as the company is set to call its IPO as soon as next week.
