Instacart Debuts Rewards Program For Order Shoppers

Instacart is looking to reward its top-performing in-store shoppers. 

The San Francisco-based delivery specialist announced the launch of Cart Star, a three-tier rewards program that will offer order fillers discounts on gas, oil changes and childcare assistance—as well as priority to access to potentially more-lucrative batch orders—based on the number of orders they fill and their rating with customers.

Order shoppers will earn 10 points for every order they fill. Those who earn 200 points (filling 20 orders) in a three-month period will qualify for Gold Cart status; shoppers earning 1,000 points will qualify for Platinum Cart status; and those earning 2,000 points by filling 200 orders over three months will qualify for Diamond Cart status. Shoppers also must maintain at least a 4.7 average rating with customers to be eligible for the program.

Discounts for Cart Star participants will be provided through third-party partners Upside, CarAdvise and Care.com. With Upside, Gold Cart shoppers can get up to 29 cents back per gallon at thousands of participating gas stations; Platinum and Diamond shoppers can receive up to 33 cents back per gallon. CarAdvise will offer oil-change discounts of 25%–50%. 

For Instacart's top shoppers in need of childcare, senior-care or pet-care assistance, discounted backup care will be available through Care.com. Diamond Cart shoppers can get access to two days of Care.com Backup Care per quarter at the discounted rate of $1 per hour or $10 per day.

Platinum and Diamond Cart shoppers also will get a callout in the Instacart app, with badges indicating they're a top Instacart shopper and information for customers on how many orders they've filled and how long they've been working with Instacart. In testing, Instacart said, customers who saw a top-shopper badge were more likely to leave a higher rating and higher tip for their shopper.  

Finally, Diamond Cart shoppers will get first dibs on batch orders if they're within close range of a store, and they will be able to accept batch orders early, before a store opens. 

"Shoppers are an important part of the Instacart community," Instacart VP of Operations and Care Tom Maguire said in a statement. "They balance empathy and efficiency with communication and problem-solving, and we’re thrilled to unveil our Cart Star program to recognize top shoppers with impactful incentives that help them stand out to their customers, improve their access to earnings, and reach their personal goals."   

The Cart Star program is the latest in a series of new-program rollouts that the 10-year-old company has announced this year. Last month, Instacart announced that its Instacart Express subscription service was rebranding as Instacart and offering households the chance to shop together through one family account.