Flexible, Fast and Affordable: Instacart’s Fulfillment Advantage to Help Retailers Win

Leading retailers like Costco, Harmons, Kroger, and Woodman’s are leveraging Instacart's enterprise technology to offer customers seamless shopping experiences

Instacart has long focused on helping retailers deliver flexible, affordable, and convenient shopping experiences for their customers. Whether it’s delivery in as fast as an hour or scheduled days in advance, we’re powering fulfillment options for retailers like Costco, Harmons, Kroger, and Woodman’s to give their customers more ways to shop and save. 

Expanding delivery options to include greater speed & savings

Costco is expanding the ways members can shop on their own terms through sameday.costco.com, its e-commerce platform powered by Instacart. With No-Rush Delivery, members can schedule orders hours or days in advance and earn additional savings by being flexible with their delivery window. For customers who need items faster, Priority Delivery offers delivery in as fast as 30 minutes.

Kroger is also introducing Express Delivery, providing grocery delivery in as fast as 30 minutes directly from the Kroger app and website. Customers can simply build their basket online, select Express Delivery at checkout, and continue to enjoy the savings and loyalty rewards available in-store. 

Powering end-to-end technology for retailers’ owned & operated platforms

With full-stack, end-to-end technology like Storefront Pro, retailers can integrate Instacart’s fulfillment capabilities directly into their e-commerce experience, offering delivery, pickup, and full-service shopping through Instacart’s trusted shopper network. Customers shop as usual directly on retailers’ websites and apps, select a time slot, and Instacart handles the rest – from picking and packing to last-mile delivery. Retailers like Harmons and Woodman’s use our Storefront Pro technology to power their digital storefronts end-to-end. 

In 2024, we upgraded dozens of retailers to Storefront Pro – unlocking more features, customization options and tools – helping the majority of these retailers increase sales by double-digit percentage points compared to before the upgrade.

Unlocking growth with flexible fulfillment

With more than a billion lifetime orders under our belt, order density, and operating scale, Instacart fulfillment offers advantages few can match. On average, we send shoppers to large-format stores 14 times per day. Because we serve more than 1,800 retail banners across North America, we’re able to invest in enterprise technology that most grocers can’t build on their own – creating value for the entire grocery ecosystem. This scale enables us to deliver not only just speed and flexibility, but also sustained efficiency and cost savings for our retail partners.

“We’re focused on helping retailers increase availability and speed, while giving customers more same-day options no matter how they choose to shop,” said Ryan Hamburger, Vice President of Retail Partnerships at Instacart. “By introducing flexible fulfillment offerings like Priority Delivery, retailers can meet the demand for convenience while unlocking potential incremental volume. Whether it’s faster delivery, full-service shopping, or scalable last-mile support, we’re committed to powering the tools our partners need to grow and serve their customers on their own terms.”

As customer expectations continue to shift toward more personalized, affordable, and fast options, fulfillment flexibility has never been more important. We're proud to help retailers meet their customers where they are – whether that’s planning ahead, shopping last minute, or anything in between.

If you're interested in Instacart Platform technology for your grocery business, click the button below to submit a Retailer Inquiry form.

Get Started