Instacart Thanks its Shoppers With End-of-Year Bonuses
To recognize the important role that its employees have played during a difficult year, Instacart is providing special thank-you bonuses of up to $500 for in-store shoppers and shift leads, as well as full-service shoppers. "Shopper" is the term the company uses for those who fulfill orders by selecting items in grocery stores and delivering them to the consumers who placed the orders.
The year 2020 was certainly the busiest year for the e-commerce service, as the COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for same-day delivery of groceries and household goods.
“From bringing daily essentials and groceries to seniors sheltering in place, to making sure busy parents juggling remote work and distance learning have snacks for their kids, shoppers have delivered for the critical needs of customers everywhere — going above and beyond in doing so," said San Francisco-based Instacart.
With the new thank-you bonuses, Instacart is providing $50 to $500 to active shoppers who have shopped and delivered with the company throughout 2020. For full-service shoppers, the bonus amount will be based on the number of batches shopped over the past year. For in-store shoppers, the bonus will be based on the amount of hours worked over the past month.
Instacart has made sure to keep its shoppers safe throughout the pandemic by introducing health guidelines and providing safety kits, access to free telemedicine, daily in-app wellness checks, and more.
In November, the company added a few more perks to its shopping community. The GetUpside is a free app for cash back on gas, helping shoppers get money back when they fill up their tanks. It offers up to 45 cents per gallon cash back on the next four fill-ups, with up to 25 cents per gallon after that. Starship, another perk, offers a free health savings account, helping shoppers save for health care-related expenses. And then there's Rocket Lawyer, which provides access to legal services for life milestones like starting a family, elder care or buying a home.
“Today, we have more shoppers on the Instacart platform than ever before, and we’re working tirelessly to continue to support this important community through COVID-19 and beyond,” the company noted.
The company's delivery service is available to 85% of U.S. households and 70% of Canadian households. Instacart has partnered with more than 500 local, regional and national retailers, including unique brand names, spanning nearly 40,000 stores. Most recently, it added Meijer to the Instacart marketplace. Other recent partnerships include Vallarta Supermarket, one of the largest Latino-owned supermarket chains, and Asian-American grocer 99 Ranch Market.
Instacart’s position as a leader in grocery e-commerce was solidified in October when it raised $200 million in new funding. The new financing round, led by existing investors Valiant Peregrine Fund and D1 Capital, brought the company’s valuation to $17.7 billion, which has more than doubled since the start of 2020.
