Instacart Enables Cart-Building From Third-Party Apps

Instacart has introduced a publicly available application programming interface (API) that powers third-party digital experiences across food, health, wellness and other spaces, such as The New York Times Cooking mobile app and website. 

The Instacart Developer Platform (IDP) will enable third parties to integrate the functionality of Instacart inside their websites and apps, and over time, gain access to:

• Same-day fulfillment from 85,000 stores across more than 1,500 national, regional and local retailers.
• Instacart's item catalog, which includes attributes such as ingredient and nutrition information, size and the elements needed to create customizable meal plans, recipes, shopping lists and other full-service lifestyle experiences.
• Real-time view of what's on store shelves from each customer's favorite local retailer.

These tools will enable developers to build connected experiences that span meal planning, personalized nutrition, cooking, content creation, health, entertainment, beauty, travel and more, according to a media release. IDP provides a way for customers to order from Instacart using inspiration from third-party apps.

For retailers and brands, IDP is a way to attract and connect with new customers, drive incremental volume, and occupy new targeted ad placements where customers are finding inspiration.

For Instacart, the company says IDP attracts new customers and allows existing customers to connect cart-building with their favorite apps.

Coming Soon: Connected Shopping Features From Launch Partners

Instacart has partnered with more than a dozen launch partners, who will launch IDP integrations over the coming months, including:

New York Times Cooking: An editor-curated recipe app and website that more than 100 million people visited in 2023, per the release. This integration will allow NYT Cooking users to shop recipe ingredients via Instacart.

WeightWatchers: An app and website for weight health programs and solutions. The integration with Instacart and the "What to Eat" feature in the WeightWatchers app will allow members to easily add ingredients needed for WeightWatchers recipes to their Instacart cart, and have them delivered right to their door.

"Our collaboration with Instacart builds on our commitment to holistic care by making healthy living more accessible for our members," Debra Benovitz, chief insights officer, WeightWatchers, said in the release. "We hear from members that they want convenient options and this partnership allows them to turn their aspirations with meals and recipes into immediate action, ensuring that nutritious choices are just a click away."

GE Appliances: An appliance manufacturer in the U.S., with products in 50% of American households. Instacart ordering and same-day delivery will be available for the shoppable, seasonally inspired recipes on the LCD touchscreen of select GE Profile, Cafe and Monogram wall ovens and slide-in ranges. With the additional integration of Instacart into GE Appliances SmartHQ app, consumers' custom recipe creations from Flavorly AI can extend beyond the ingredients they have available in their kitchens. Flavorly lets users generate custom recipes with photos and instructions based on the ingredients, type of cuisine and dietary preferences. Consumers will begin to see new features in the fall of 2024.

[Also Read: GE Appliances Offers Recipe Discovery With Kroger]

"By investing in new technologies and forging innovative collaborations, we are bringing untapped value to our consumers," Shawn Stover, vice president of SmartHome and energy solutions at GE Appliances, added. "Our goal is to help expand cooking confidence, reduce food waste and create a seamless cooking journey for our consumers. Joining the Instacart Developer Platform unlocks exciting new possibilities, both on our products and inside of our SmartHQ consumer app."

Instacart says IDP will also unlock new features for developers of all sizes. The company will also work with additional recipe/meal planning and health and wellness apps such as Biocoach, DinnerTime, Eatlove, eMeals, Foodsmart, Innit, Intent, Jow, Jupiter, Maple, North Fork, Relish and Smart Commerce.

The first version of the Instacart Development Platform is live now and accepting partner applications. In the months ahead, Instacart will work with its partners to power even more experiences and help them integrate with the Instacart platform in new ways, including real-time product search, product availability and a retailer location finder.

"With the launch of the Instacart Developer Platform, we're taking over a decade of technology we've built to power the Instacart marketplace and top retailer storefronts, and offering it to a broader range of businesses, turning discovery-centric apps into full-service experiences that can also deliver tangible goods," Daniel Danker, chief product officer and head of online grocery at Instacart, said in the release. "This enables mainstream services as well as new products born out of emerging AI capabilities to offer truly complete experiences for their customers."