Instacart opens visibility between customers, delivery drivers

Instacart wants to maximize transparency in the process of customers having their orders fulfilled by drivers.

The grocery technology company is making three updates to the order fulfillment process designed to improve trust and visibility for customers and shoppers (Instacart’s term for workers who fulfill online customer orders at partner brick-and-mortar stores):

In-app recognition

Currently, customers can see limited information about shoppers when they are shopping and delivering orders, such as their first name and how many batches they have shopped. Now, Instacart is introducing additional shopper details, such as:

• How many five-star ratings they have received.
• The compliment badges shoppers have earned for quality service.
• If they have shopped for the customer before.
• The number of orders a shopper has delivered on time.
• How much time a shopper has saved customers.

Customer visibility into delivery

Shoppers get to see the full details of a batch before they accept it. These include how many customer orders are in the batch and if they will need to shop the orders, deliver them, or both.

Based on shopper feedback, Instacart is making improvements to live delivery status that will give customers access to more information about their order, including if a shopper is shopping or delivering multiple orders. Instacart says it expects live delivery status improvements to lead to higher ratings and facilitate a more seamless experience for both shoppers and customers.

Enforcing community guidelines

In 2022, Instacart introduced a new batch-level feedback experience for shoppers that enables them to report inappropriate or rude customer behavior. Now, the company is enhancing this feature to help ensure inappropriate behavior is quickly addressed, which may include warning or suspending a customer after receiving reports.

Instacart will send shoppers an email when a customer they’ve reported has received a warning.

“Shoppers work diligently to deliver a great experience for their customers. We want to help showcase this effort and build products that foster a deeper sense of community and understanding between customers and shoppers,” said John Adams, VP of shopper & fulfillment product at Instacart, in a corporate blog post. “We recognize the care that shoppers put into shopping and delivering day in and day out, and are excited to introduce new features that shine a spotlight on that care and attention to detail for all customers to see.”