Instacart Expands Brand Advertising Solutions

Instacart has introduced a suite of advertising solutions, dubbed Instacart Promotions, for brand partners to deliver more value and savings to consumers as they shop across its marketplace.

Now, all brand partners, including emerging brands, have self-service access and capabilities to launch new deal structures, promotions and incentives with their Instacart Ad campaigns, according to a news release. Consumers will see more personalized promotions, coupons and deals as they search and discover products from their favorite brands on Instacart.

"We believe that ordering groceries online should not be a luxury or convenience for some, but an option for everyone, no matter your budget. With the average cost of groceries going up, we're proud to unlock more ways for consumers to save money and connect with their favorite brands and retailers via Instacart," said Ali Miller, vice president of Ads Product Management at Instacart, in the release.

Instacart currently runs hundreds of thousands of deals and coupons across its marketplace every day, which it says has saved shoppers over $700 million so far in 2022, according to the release. Instacart Promotions will serve shoppers more promotions across the app/platform, appearing directly on product item cards and before checkout.

Instacart also says the offering can enable advertisers to create more impactful campaigns specific to their objectives, such as basket building, driving trials or boosting sales. For example, Athletic Brewing, General Mills, Sola Company and Halo Top maker Wells Enterprises are among the first brands to pilot Instacart Promotions by pairing it with ad formats such as Sponsored Product and Display.

"With an increasing number of consumers looking to moderate their alcohol consumption, Athletic Brewing is thrilled to be working alongside our partners at Instacart to deliver savings on our award-winning, non-alcoholic beer this holiday season," said Dermot Woods, omnichannel marketplace manager at Athletic Brewing, in the release. "As we look ahead to Dry January, we're adding more coupons to our campaigns so consumers can discover our brews and save as they shop on the Instacart marketplace.”

Instacart Promotions includes two customizable structures: Coupons ("buy X units, save $Y") and Stock Up & Save ("Spend $X, Save $Y"). In the coming months, Instacart will further enhance the Promotions offering with new deal structures such as free gifts and BOGO deals. The deal structures will also help brand partners run free sampling programs to target new customers and serve personalized discounts for different customer segments, such as "new to brand" and "new to category," according to the release.

Instacart Promotions is available in the company’s self-service portal, Ads Manager, to all advertisers in open beta. With an “enhanced ad buying experience,” Ads Manager puts marketing objectives front and center for brand partners. Ads Manager helps brands and agency partners set up and manage several types of ad formats, with access to “best-in-class” features to enhance performance, including optimized bidding and bid landscapes.

In addition, brand partners can use Ads Manager to create custom landing pages to strengthen onsite and offsite marketing efforts, easily edit product images and descriptions directly on the Instacart marketplace, and access near real-time performance insights.