Instacart Express Rebrands as Instacart+, Rolls Out New Benefits

Instacart has rebranded its Instacart Express subscription service as Instacart and is rolling out new perks for members, including features to let multiple members of the same household shop and place orders through one account.

Instacart will continue to offer the benefits that Instacart Express membership offered, including free delivery on orders over $35, lower service fees on each order and 5% credit back on eligible pickup orders.

Membership in Instacart is $9.99 per month or $99 per year. In comparison, Walmart's Walmart membership program, which launched in 2020 and also offers free delivery on orders of $35 or more (plus fuel discounts), costs $12.95 per month or $98 per year.  

"With today's launch, we're making Instacart the most cost-effective way for families to buy groceries and essentials with Instacart, delivered in as fast as 30 minutes," Daniel Danker, head of product for Instacart, said in a statement. 

Instacart's family-oriented new features, Family Accounts and Family Carts, let households create one account through which family members or roommates can add to a shared cart and place combined orders—a move that could allow them to reduce their number of order deliveries, reduce the need to run out to a store to purchase forgotten items, and/or let them get to the $35 threshold for free more easily. 

Read more: Instacart CEO Fidji Simo on Cracking the Code to Grocery's Future

As a bonus to celebrate the rebranded program's launch, eligible Chase cardholders will be able to access three to 12 months of Instacart for free, depending on their card level.

Last month, Chicago-based data and research firm Numerator found that more than six in 10 U.S. households (62%) subscribe to a retail membership program. Larger households, Numerator noted, overindexed on retail program memberships.

In a news release, Instacart said that its subscribers "are among the company’s most engaged customers, driving superior lifetime value through increased orders." On average, Instacart subscribers in 2021 spent nearly two times more per month than nonsubscribers did.

Instacart is the latest big unveiling for San Francisco-based Instacart in 2022; in March, the company, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, introduced Instacart Platform, a suite of products and services designed to bolster retailers' in-store and online tech offerings. Among the new offerings available a la carte to retailers are scanless smart carts, nano-fulfillment centers called Carrot Warehouses to enable delivery in as fast as 15 minutes, and Carrot Ads, integrating Instacart advertising services on retailers' own e-commerce websites.

Speaking about Instacart Platform and the impetus for the Instacart rebrand, an Instacart spokesperson said: "We continue to bring this holistic rebrand across other areas of our business, including Express, with a new name, new visual identity and new benefits with Instacart ."