Instacart upgrades e-commerce platform with customizable storefronts

Grocers who use Instacart's e-commerce platform can now customize their digital storefronts with shoppable campaigns, custom landing pages and dynamic homepage content, the company announced recently.  

The San Francisco-based tech company said its Instacart Storefront and Storefront Pro technology is already being used by grocery retailers such as Gelson’s Markets, which operates 27 stores in Southern California, and Stew Leonard’s, which operates stores across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. 

“In today’s competitive landscape, our retail partners want to provide an authentic and differentiated online shopping experience,” said Chris Rogers, chief business officer at Instacart, in a statement. “Our Storefront and Storefront Pro solutions give retailers the power to take control over their online presence, so it reflects their brand identity and showcases their unique value. They can now seamlessly launch shoppable campaigns that capture seasonal moments, handpick products that resonate with their audience, and foster stronger customer connections.” 

The new dynamic homepage function enables grocers to add digital banners that can be customized to include the grocer’s brand logo, colors, fonts and more. They can also create custom landing pages with their own images and text, and they can now build their own static pages, such as “About Us” and “FAQ”. 

The updated storefront builder also includes pre-built templates and custom layouts created by Instacart, which can be used across multiple storefronts, according to Instacart. 

“Our shoppers’ online experience is now just as important as our in-store experience, something my grandfather never would have fathomed when he opened Stew Leonard’s as a small dairy store in 1969,” said Stew Leonard’s COO Jake Tavello in a statement. “Instacart Storefront Pro helps us manage and grow our e-commerce. The campaign builder feature helps us reach our goals—whether it’s driving purchases of specialty items like our freshly baked chocolate chip cookies or pointing customers to popular holiday items like filet mignon or lobster—by guiding us through the process and making recommendations in an intuitive, easy-to-use interface.” 

Ron Johnson, chief information and supply chain officer at Gelson’s, emphasized the important role the customizable digital storefront plays in reflecting a “helpful, inviting environment.” 

“With Instacart Storefront Pro, we’ll be able to easily customize and manage our website and app and offer timely campaigns for our customers—giving them the experience they expect and driving revenue for our business,” Johnson said.  

It’s only the most recent tech offering from Instacart, which has released a wide variety of new tech tools to attract both vendors and customers to the platform.  

The company, which has established partnerships with more than 1,200 retailer banners, announced that it is launching its so-called Caper Carts—shopping carts that use artificial intelligence to enable shoppers to pay from anywhere in the store—at Schnuck Markets this fall. In February, the company launched its carrot ads tech, giving grocers the opportunity to promote CPG brands.