Dollar Tree expands same-day delivery with Instacart

Online grocery giant Instacart continues to expand its retail reach with a new expanded partnership with Dollar Tree Inc. to offer same-day delivery in as fast as one hour from nearly 7,000 Dollar Tree stores.

With the Dollar Tree expansion, Instacart now partners with more than 700 national, regional and local retailers, including unique brand names, to deliver from more than 65,000 stores.

"When it comes to major household expenses, we know every dollar counts. That's why we're proud to expand our footprint with Dollar Tree and make same-day delivery from this beloved value retailer accessible to more families," said Carolyn Everson, president of Instacart. "Dollar Tree and Family Dollar offer truly unique shopping experiences that give customers more opportunities to save and discover new treasures every day. We're excited to extend the reach of these leading retailers and bring their incredible selection of discounted goods to more households nationwide."

According to the companies, nearly 98 million U.S. households have access to Dollar Tree's and Family Dollar's selection of household goods and seasonal decor, pantry and baby essentials, office, party and school supplies, personal care items and more, delivered from nearly 13,000 locations.

Related:Grocery Outlet makes e-commerce debut with Instacart

"With our focus on best meeting customers' evolving needs, we are pleased to expand our Instacart partnership to provide even more households across the country with convenience and value on everyday products, as well as the party essentials and seasonal items that Dollar Tree is best known for," said Michael Witynski, president and CEO of Dollar Tree Inc. "Our customers discover new and exciting items every week, which help them celebrate all of life's occasions at an extreme value."

Instacart and Dollar Tree first partnered to launch same-day delivery from Family Dollar in November 2020.

To shop from Dollar Tree for same-day delivery via Instacart, customers can visit https://www.instacart.com/dollar-tree or select the Dollar Tree storefront on the Instacart app. For all orders, an Instacart shopper will pick and deliver the order within the customer's chosen delivery time frame.

Instacart and Dollar Tree first partnered to launch same-day delivery from Family Dollar in November 2020. Following a successful pilot, the companies expanded the partnership to more than 6,000 Family Dollar stores in January and began testing same-day delivery from Dollar Tree in August. With today's expansion, the companies now offer same-day delivery in as fast as one hour from nearly 13,000 Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores across 48 states and Washington D.C.

Related:SN chats with new Instacart President Carolyn Everson

San Francisco-based Instacart has been stepping up its growth plan this year, following last year’s pandemic surge in online grocery. Last week the company began testing same-day delivery service at 68 Grocery Outlet stores in California, marking that retailer’s first foray into e-commerce. Earlier this month, Instacart purchased catering e-commerce software provider FoodStorm and “smart” shopping cart company Caper Inc. The company also announced Sunbasket as the first meal delivery company on its online marketplace.

In September, Instacart unveiled 24/7 delivery service for grocery and other retailers as well as the Convenience Hub, a new product experience on the Instacart Marketplace to streamline convenience shopping. Instacart also has launched Priority Delivery grocery service (as soon as 30 minutes) and is piloting micro-fulfillment solutions for grocery retailers with automation specialist Fabric.

Currently, Instacart partners with more than 700 national, regional and local retailers and delivers from almost 55,000 stores in over 5,500 cities in the United States and Canada. The company’s delivery service is accessible to more than 85% of U.S. households and 80% of Canadian households. 

Everson, who was named president of Instacart in September, recently joined Supermarket News for a podcast interview in which she outlined the company’s mission. “Grocery is a $1.3 trillion industry in North America, but only 8% is purchased online today. That 8% is substantially less than other categories, and we expect that to grow to about 25% to 30% in the next five to 10 years,” she said. “So I ultimately decided to join Instacart because of a massive opportunity in the category, but also what really gets me out of bed in the morning is helping companies grow. There’s nothing more important than the local grocery business in each of our communities, and if I can play a small part in enabling them to succeed in this digital transformation and helping them not just survive but thrive, that would be an awesome career opportunity for me.”