Instacart entices its shoppers to work during high-demand times

Same-day delivery platform Instacart on Thursday unveiled a new weapon in its fight to attract workers and ensure it has shoppers on the clock to meet consumer demand:

A way to earn more money by shopping on certain days of the week or in neighboring areas where customer interest is high.

Instacart’s new “peak earning days” program entices shoppers to work on select days based on projected daily customer demand in a certain area.

Every Thursday, a peak earning days chart will be shared in Instacart’s shopper-facing app, showing the most-lucrative shopping days. That day’s percentage increase will apply to a shopper’s base pay per batch, and shoppers can change their location setting in the app to see if they can make more money in nearby areas, the company said in a statement.

“The peak earning days feature equips shoppers with another tool to optimize their time and better their ability to earn,” John Adams, Instacart’s VP of shopper and fulfillment product, said in a statement. “As we look to the future, we’re excited to continue rolling out features like peak earning days that help shoppers maximize their earning potential.”

All tips will continue to go directly to the worker and will not be impacted by the new program, Instacart said.

Instacart reportedly plans to go public before the end of the year.

Instacart’s move comes as the company’s business model is threatened by proposed federal rule changes that regulate whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee.

The proposal relies on six so-called economic realities to determine a worker’s status. In general, they hold that the less control and investment a worker has in their job, and the more fundamental their job is to the overall business, the more likely they are to be an employee rather than a contractor.

On Tuesday, the city of San Diego announced that Instacart agreed to pay $45.6 million to settle a gig worker case that was filed in 2019. The suit covers approximately 308,000 Instacart workers who worked for the grocery-delivery company from September 2015 through December 2020.

Instacart said the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.

"We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with the City of San Diego," the company said in a statement to WGB. "Instacart has always properly classified shoppers as independent contractors, giving them the ability to set their own schedule and earn on their own terms. We remain committed to continuing to serve our customers across California while also protecting access to flexible earnings opportunities for Instacart shoppers.”