Special Delivery: 15+ Instacart Statistics

There are over one million retail establishments in the US.

More than 150,000 of those sell food and beverages.

And, up until not so long ago, the only way to buy goods from them was to drive there, go into the store and grab what you want from the shelves. Nowadays, you can have somebody else do your shopping and drive it to you.

Titans like Walmart and Amazon have expanded their offer to include this service, but other companies came to the market for this single purpose—like Instacart.

Today, we bring you the finest Instacart statistics. Even if you’re a traditionalist who would take a relaxing drive to the supermarket over virtual shopping any day, staying informed can’t hurt.

Fascinating Instacart Stats (Editor’s Choice)

• You can shop for half a million products from over 65,000 stores through Instacart.
• Shopping from Instacart adds $10-$15 to your bill compared to getting the groceries yourself.
• Most households in the US and Canada have access to Instacart—85% and 70%, respectively.
• Instacart has over 10 million users and half a million “shoppers.”
• The Instacart app got 4.4 million downloads in March and April 2020.
• 27% of US online shoppers use Instacart.
• Instacart hit $1.8 billion in revenue in 2021.
• In Q1 2022, Instacart reported that sales fell 4% YoY.

Some Instacart Data to Start With

The name of the company, insta-cart, is rather self-explanatory; plus, it fits its business activities well.

Here, we’ll talk about when and how Instacart came to be; we’ll also take a peek at its present situation. Plus, we’ll give you a few tips to make the most of it—after all, there’s always a way or two to save some money.

1. Apoorva Mehta founded Instacart in 2012.

(Source: Forbes)

Mr. Mehta has quite the resume. He worked at BlackBerry and then at Amazon as a supply-chain engineer. After that, he decided to become an entrepreneur, managing to launch 20 startups in the span of two years. Unfortunately, every single one of them failed.

He then set out to create the ultimate online grocery shopping platform. So far, he’s been doing quite well—even after Amazon paid $13.7 billion to acquire Whole Foods in 2017, Instacart’s largest partner at the time.

Not-so-fun fact: 90% of startups fail. In fact, 27% of them do so in their first year.

2. You can shop from over 65,000 stores through Instacart.

(Source: Instacart)

Here are some truly fascinating Instacart statistics: The platform enables you to choose from more than half a million products offered by over 700 retailers—that’s 65,000 physical stores located in over 5,500 cities across the US and Canada.

From fresh produce to camera film or even new lingerie, you can get yourself just about anything you might need—and a few things you probably don’t really need but are too tempting to pass up.

3. Instacart has over 10 million users.

(Source: Yahoo! Finance)

Instacart is an online platform, so you wouldn’t be surprised if we told you the pandemic helped it quite a bit. But just how many people use Instacart nowadays?

As of 2021, the company boasts over 10 million users and employs half a million “shoppers” (that’s what Instacart calls its delivery drivers).

Fun fact: Instacart hired nearly 300,000 workers in just one month at the beginning of the pandemic to meet the rising demand.

4. Shopping from Instacart adds $10-$15 to your bill.

(Source: Healthline)

Instacart retailers have the right to set whatever prices they want on the platform. Some of them keep prices the same as in-store, others charge more.

This price premium plus the various service fees (delivery fee, pickup fee, heavy fee, priority fee, long-distance fee, etc.) and the virtually mandatory tip mean that each shopping cart will cost you $10-$15 more than if you went to the store in-person.

(No wonder Instacart is profitable.)

5. Instacart+ membership saves customers an average $7 per order.

(Source: Healthline)

Instacart offers a subscription that reduces the service fee and provides free delivery for orders over $35. It costs $9.99 monthly or $99 yearly.

According to Instacart stats, the membership saves you an average of $7 per order. 

Keep in mind, though, that you’ll have to use the platform at least 14 times a year, spending $35 or more each time before you start seeing any benefits. If you order your groceries online often enough, though, it might be worth it.

Instacart Revenue

Like with most tech companies, the pandemic was a blessing in disguise for Instacart. Now that it has mostly subsided, though, many have lost much of what they made in the past two years. Instacart, too, has struggled to sustain its growth—or to retain its gains.

Let’s go over Instacart’s financials.

6. Instacart hit $1.8 billion in revenue in 2021.

(Source: The New York Times)

2021 was Instacart’s strongest year yet—the online grocery service raked in $1.8 billion in revenue. Since it’s a private company, we have no access to any other numbers, but Instacart claims that its revenue in 2020 was $1.5 billion. In other words, it saw 20% year-over-year growth.

While it’s difficult to estimate Instacart’s revenue for 2022, it’s very likely to be higher than 2021’s.

Fun fact: The Instacart app recorded 4.4 million downloads in just two months (March and April 2020). Since then, new downloads have stabilized to around 700,000 monthly.

7. Instacart controlled 45% of the grocery delivery market in 2021.

(Source: Bloomberg Second Measure)

Instacart sales skyrocketed in the first few months of the pandemic to the point where the startup overtook Walmart in grocery deliveries. Since then, the retail giant has retaken the first spot and now owns 48% of the market. Instacart is a close second, though, with a 45% share. The remaining 7% goes to other great grocery delivery services, like Script, FreshDirect, and Peapod.

You may have noticed we didn’t mention Amazon. That’s because Jeff Bezos’ company doesn’t report grocery deliveries separately from its other sales, so it’s impossible to know how big of a player it really is in this field.

8. On average, Instacart makes $29 per user.

(Source: Insider Intelligence)

A major source of Instacart’s income is advertising. Seeing as it's a shopping service, it has all the data it needs about your product-buying habits to run targeted ads on you.

In 2021, Instacart’s ARPU (average revenue per user) was $29—more than double Walmart’s ($13) but only about a quarter of Amazon’s ($111).

Fun fact: Instacart paid $350 million to acquire Caper AI—a company that specializes in cashierless tech and online shopping carts—in 2021. Clearly, Instacart intends to take on Amazon.

9. Instacart’s valuation hit $39 billion in March 2021.

(Source: CNBC)

In early 2020, Instacart was worth $7.9 billion. A couple of funding rounds later, it got to $17.7 billion by late 2020. An early 2021 round of $265 million saw Instacart’s value double yet again, reaching $39 billion.

Since then, though, much has changed—the pandemic subsided, dragging down companies it had once elevated; a war started, causing further distress to the global economy. Technology businesses, in particular, took a hard hit (Instacart included).

The online grocery platform recently announced it was slashing its valuation by 40%. This move brought down Instacart’s worth to $24 billion.

Fun fact: Instacart claims to have over $1 billion in cash. That’s one fat bank account—especially considering that half the people in the country can’t cover a $1,000 surprise expense.

10. In Q1 2022, Instacart reported that sales fell 4% year-on-year.

(Source: Bloomberg Second Measure)

Instacart statistics reveal the company’s woes—sales are down.

Sure, it’s only a -4% difference compared to Q1 2021, but it’s there. Furthermore, the average amount each consumer spent went down from $632 to $576, a -9% hit.

On the bright side, the number of customers is actually up. The company boasts a 5% increase over Q1 2021, which is also 65% up compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Fun fact: Instacart’s growth (in terms of sales) had already slowed down from 330% in 2020 to 15% in 2021.

11. Instacart lost 24% of its sales volume in Los Angeles.

(Source: Bloomberg Second Measure)

Instacart’s rates of growth from 2020 were clearly unsustainable in the long term. By the end of Q1 2022, the company reported losing 4% of its sales volume across the country—that said, the decline was worse in some cities than in others. For instance, L.A. (-24%) and Washington, D.C. (-9%) are particularly noteworthy.

Not all is doom and gloom, though. In Q1 2022, Instacart saw a rise in sales in several cities; for instance, 12% in Dallas, 8% in Philadelphia, and 6% in New York.

12. Instacart’s sales will likely reach $30 billion in 2022.

(Source: Statista)

Details about Instacart’s profit margin or net income will remain unclear for as long as the company remains private. What it can’t hide so easily, however, is how much it sells. 

Instacart experienced tremendous growth of over 200%, from a sales volume of $7.1 billion in 2019 to $23.4 billion in 2020. Following the pandemic-induced boom, things have slowed noticeably, with sales reaching just $26 billion in 2021.

Regardless, projections suggest the grocery delivery service will keep growing and sell as much as $30 billion worth of products in 2022.

Instacart Users

Instacart has a presence in much of North America—the company’s shoppers operate in most of the US and Canada. However, it seems that the overwhelming majority of people still prefer to shop in person.

Here’s what that means for Instacart.

13. Only 27% of US online shoppers use Instacart.

(Source: Statista)

The latest Instacart stats indicate that although 74% of online grocery shoppers in the United States recognize the brand, just over a quarter use it.

That said, Instacart’s performance in Canada is a lot weaker, as just 18% of people who order groceries online choose it. For comparison, 40% buy from Walmart, 38% from Amazon, and 34% from Costco.

14. 15% of US households can’t access Instacart.

(Source: Grip Investments)

Instacart’s growth means that the company now operates in large portions of the United States and Canada. Alas, not everyone can use its services.

While residents of urban or suburban areas in the US will likely encounter zero issues ordering their groceries online, rural communities are largely left out. As of 2022, Instacart covers about 85% of US households and 70% of Canadian families.

15. Instacart has a rating of 1.3☆ on Trustpilot.

(Source: Trustpilot)

A curious fact about Instacart is that it doesn’t seem to be well-liked on consumer review websites. On Trustpilot, it holds a rating of 1.3☆ out of thousands of reviews. Now, considering Instacart has been embroiled in multiple lawsuits over its unfair tipping policy and deceptive service fees, we can understand why some users might feel in a certain not-so-positive way about it.

That said, it fares a lot better on the App Store, where 2.5 million reviewers have given it an average of 4.8☆. Yeah, it’s a big disparity, so we’ll leave it up to you to decide what this means.

16. Frozen meat generated $112 million in sales on Instacart in Q2 2020.

(Source: Statista)

What stores use Instacart to deliver groceries to customers?

Stores that sell frozen meat, apparently.

In Q2 2020, when the initial outburst of COVID-19 led to nationwide lockdowns, alarmed Americans hurried to buy frozen meat, likely due to its long shelf life. Instacart alone saw sales reach $112 million in just three months.

Users also spent $95 million on luncheon meats and another $87 million on frozen poultry. Vegetables and nuts followed with $80 million and $65 million, respectively. (Yeah, you can see why Instacart’s profit went up the roof.)

Pet owners also made sure to stock up on food for their furry friends—they spent $59 million on that at the beginning of the pandemic.

Fun fact: Having a pet is expensive. You have to take them to the vet, buy them toys, groom them, perhaps even give them presents. The most expensive part, though? Feeding them. Food accounts for 40% of pet-related expenditures.

Wrap Up

Let’s face it: The typical Instacart merchant only cooperates with the app because it brings them increased exposure—and sales. But many retailers are now starting to build their own grocery delivery services and are breaking up with their once-partner, turning into competitors.

We can’t say whether they’ll be successful or regret stepping away from an already-established platform. What we can say is that we at Web Tribunal will keep you updated with the latest Instacart statistics.