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☆ Scammers are using delivery apps like Instacart to swindle customers and delivery workers out of money
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewSome Instacart shoppers are the targets of a scam centered on gift cards. "Within 30 seconds, I got a message about buying the Vanilla Visa gift card," she said. Instacart forbids shoppers from adding gift cards to orders, a screenshot of the company policy seen by BI indicates. "Customers are not able to order gift cards through the Instacart platform or place a special request for a gift card via chat," an Instacart spokesperson told BI. AdvertisementInstacart also tells shoppers not to purchase gift cards for customers, the spokesperson added.

Persons: —, they've, Instacart, Jim, itsjwest, Heidi Bleau, Bleau Organizations: Service, Business, Walgreens, BI Locations: Massachusetts, cologne

☆ Instacart, DoorDash, and other apps appear to be trying to roll back Seattle's new laws for gig workers
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Instacart, DoorDash, and other apps seem to be trying to roll back Seattle's new gig worker pay law. They say Seattle gig workers are making less and delivering fewer orders after many raised prices. But in the preamble to the survey, Instacart indicated it already had thoughts about how things were going. One poster, who included screenshots of the message, encouraged other Instacart shoppers to turn the pre-written letter to the city council around. Uber Eats and Grubhub have also put out statements saying that things have gotten worse for their gig workers since Seattle's law took effect.

Persons: —, Instacart, they've, That's, PayUp, DoorDash, Dashers, Anna Powell, GeekWire, Powell Organizations: Service, Seattle City Council, Business, Instacart, BI, Walmart Locations: Seattle, Seattle's, DoorDash

☆ Gig workers explain how they got their accounts reactivated on Instacart and Uber Eats
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Gig workers often have their accounts deactivated, even if they've done nothing wrong. Here are the top tips for getting reactivated from people who deliver for Instacart and Uber Eats. But some gig workers have had success getting their accounts — and an income — back. Business Insider spoke with two gig workers who successfully got apps to overturn their deactivations. AdvertisementDo you work for Instacart, Uber Eats, DoorDash, or another gig delivery service?

Persons: Uber, —, Instacart, could've Organizations: Service, Walmart, Companies, Business, Trust, Safety, Instacart Locations: South Dakota, Instacart, Oregon

☆ Instacart to lay off 250 employees, or about 7% of the company, as part of restructuring
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Instacart on Tuesday announced it would lay off about 250 employees, or roughly 7% of the company, as part of a restructuring. The news came as the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that fell roughly in line with analysts' revenue estimates. Three top executives are also departing the company for personal reasons, according to Instacart: Chief Operating Officer Asha Sharma, Chief Technology Officer Varouj Chitilian and chief architect JJ Zhuang. The company posted fourth-quarter revenue of $803 million, roughly in line with the $804 million that Wall Street expected, according to analyst estimates from LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv. In September, Instacart went public in one of the first significant venture-backed tech IPOs since December 2021.

Persons: Instacart, Asha Sharma, Varouj Chitilian, JJ Zhuang Organizations: Google, CNBC PRO Locations: LSEG

☆ The golden age of working for Instacart, DoorDash, and other delivery apps is over, workers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-31 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

"2020 and 2021 were excellent, but things started to go downhill in 2022 and now 2023," Juan told Business Insider. AdvertisementSpokespeople for Amazon, DoorDash, and Grubhub confirmed to Business Insider that they put prospective delivery workers on waitlists in certain markets based on demand for deliveries. AdvertisementHere are some of the problems that delivery gig workers faced in 2023, varying from lower pay to greater competition to sudden deactivations. The companies that employ delivery workers oppose the laws. Do you work for Instacart, Walmart Spark, or another gig delivery service and have a story idea to share?

Persons: —, Juan, he's, He's, hasn't, they're, Grubhub, Greg F, Greg, Instacart, Alexia Hudson, Daniel Danker, Hudson, Uber, GeekWire, Shipt Organizations: Service, Amazon, Business, Instacart, Walmart, Hudson, Bank of America Institute, New, New York Post Locations: Instacart, Southern California, Utah, California, Texas, Charlotte , North Carolina, Seattle, New York City, Juan

☆ I got stabbed while shopping for Instacart. I was shocked by how difficult it was to get support as an injured gig worker.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

AdvertisementThis as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Owen Dwyer, an Instacart shopper in Maryland. Business Insider has verified his identity and employment; corroborated details of the stabbing through police records; and viewed messages from Instacart support and insurance claims Dwyer filed after he was stabbed. Instacart's insurance provider responded to Dwyer's second claim after Business Insider reached out to Instacart for comment on this story. Dwyer told Business Insider he had not received an estimated payment total as of press time. "The safety of the entire Instacart community is incredibly important to us, and we take immediate action when we receive reports of violence against any member of the Instacart community," an Instacart spokesperson told Business Insider.

Persons: Instacart, —, Owen Dwyer, Dwyer, I'd, doesn't, I'm, It's, I've, who've Organizations: Walmart, Service, Instacart, Chrysler, Costco, CVS, Business Locations: Maryland, Baltimore, pec, Instacart

☆ Instacart says most of its retailers charge more through its app than in stores, confirming what gig workers and shoppers have suspected for years
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Just 425 of the 1,400 retailers that sell through Instacart charge the same prices in-store and on the app. Instacart CEO Fidji Simo said Wednesday that the company encourages retailers to stick to in-store prices. Some customers don't realize that the markups even exist, Instacart shoppers have told Insider. Out of the 1,400 retailers who sell through Instacart, 425 offer the same prices through Instacart, Fidji Simo told analysts during the company's first-ever earnings call. Instacart lets retailers decide how much they charge for products for sale through the app, Simo said.

Persons: Fidji Simo, —, Instacart, Simo Organizations: Service Locations: Instacart, Southern California, Oregon

☆ Walmart Spark Drivers Spend Over an Hour Waiting for Orders in Lots
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Drivers for Walmart's Spark delivery service are waiting an hour or more in parking lots for orders. According to conversations with four Spark drivers, wait times have become an issue for the drivers as the service has grown. The same Walmart associates responsible for Spark orders also bring items out to customers waiting in parking lots. Spark drivers told Insider that the wait times at Walmart make it hard to know which orders are worth taking. In August, Walmart started asking Spark drivers to deliver orders in batches of up to three orders each.

Persons: —, he's, Walmart's, Doug McMillon, Jeff Greenberg, I've, I'm, gabriellew13 Organizations: Service, Walmart, Getty, Costco Locations: Alabama, Nevada, Indiana

☆ Costco stops giving Instacart shoppers gift cards as refunds, amid claims they were being misused
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Costco has stopped issuing gift cards to Instacart shoppers returning undeliverable items. AdvertisementAdvertisementCostco is no longer giving Instacart shoppers refunds on orders using gift cards, the delivery company told Insider. Instacart shoppers are sometimes unable to deliver items from Costco after they've been purchased — if a customer isn't home during delivery, for example. Now, Costco appears to be sending refunds directly back to Instacart instead of giving them to shoppers, according to shopper posts on Reddit. The Costco Shop Cards were one way that Instacart shoppers have benefited from canceled orders.

Persons: —, Instacart Organizations: Costco, Service, they've, Shoppers Locations: Instacart

☆ Instacart shoppers score free food when delivery orders get canceled
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Instacart shoppers often end up with free groceries when they can't deliver an order. But for some shoppers, those kinds of last-minute obstacles are a perk: Instacart often lets shoppers keep all or some of the groceries for free. "We got all these groceries for free because we couldn't locate the right address," the poster says in the video. Instacart issues shoppers a debit card to pay for items. That means Instacart carries the cost of canceled or undeliverable orders.

Persons: —, Instacart, iamlo.uie, didn't, It's Organizations: Service, Costco Locations: California

☆ Instacart's IPO flops as the stock slumps. Here are 7 reasons why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

This is one of the concerns that has turned Instacart's IPO into a flop on its second day as a public company. To be successful, an IPO must deliver a big pop to the investors who signed on to buy stock when it debuts. He came out with an analysis of Instacart's business on Tuesday, valuing the company at $29 a share. The reason: The grocery business is low-margin, so there's not a lot of room for Instacart to skim more fees. "In short, the growth in online grocery sales will be higher than total grocery sales growth, but not overwhelmingly so."

Persons: Aswath Damodaran, Fidji Simo, Instacart, Rowe Price, Damodaran, there's, Uber, Instacart doesn't Organizations: Service, Fidelity, DST Global, NYU's Stern School of Business, Instacart Shoppers, Shoppers, Tech Locations: Wall, Silicon, Aswath, COVID

☆ Instacart aiming for valuation of $8.6 billion to $9.3 billion in IPO, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The grocery delivery company Instacart is aiming to go public at a valuation between $8.6 billion and $9.3 billion, according to reports. Instacart is expected to officially disclose its expected valuation range on Monday, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. As public stocks dipped around March of last year, Instacart cut its valuation from $39 billion to $24 billion. According to the company, Instacart shoppers and drivers deliver goods in over 14,000 cities from more than 80,000 grocers and other stores. The grocery delivery service will join other gig economy companies like Uber , Airbnb , Lyft and DoorDash on the public market.

Persons: Instacart, haven't, Japan's SoftBank, Uber, Goldman Sachs, CNBC's Hayden Field Organizations: Reuters, Nasdaq Locations: Instacart

☆ Instacart files to go public on Nasdaq to try and unfreeze tech IPO market
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Instacart, the grocery delivery company that slashed its valuation during last year's market slide, filed its paperwork to go public on Friday in what's poised to be the first significant venture-backed tech IPO since December 2021. In May, Instacart said it was leaning into the generative AI boom with Ask Instacart, a search tool that aims to answer customers' grocery shopping questions. Instacart will try and crack open the IPO market, which has been mostly closed since late 2021. In March of last year, Instacart slashed its valuation to $24 billion from $39 billion as public stocks sank. Apoorva Mehta, Instacart's founder and executive chairman, plans to transition off the board after the company's public market debut, according to a 2022 release.

Persons: Instacart, Fidji Simo, haven't, Japan's SoftBank, Uber, They've, Simo, Mark Zuckerberg, Apoorva Mehta, Barry McCarthy, Snowflake, Frank Slootman, Andreessen Horowitz's Jeff Jordan, Shipt, Goldman Sachs, Nick Giovanni Organizations: Nasdaq, PepsiCo, Maplebear Inc, Target, Walmart, Meta, Walmart Grocery, Google, Sequoia Capital, DJ Capital Partners, Norges Bank Investment Management, TCV, D1 Capital Partners, Valiant Capital Management Locations: what's

☆ Instacart's profitability relies in part on batching orders together — something that its gig workers hate
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Shoppers have told Insider that batching has led them to do more work for the same pay. Instead of having one shopper fill a single order at a time, Instacart has pushed its gig workers to shop and deliver multiple orders at once. But shoppers who have worked for Instacart for several years have told Insider that their pay per order has decreased since batching became widespread. One Instacart shopper in Utah told Insider earlier this year that three-order batches, which shoppers call "triples," have become commonplace. Are you an Instacart shopper with a story to share?

Persons: batching, Instacart, — Organizations: Service, SEC, Shoppers Locations: Wall, Silicon, Utah

☆ Some Instacart customers are losing hundreds of dollars to scammers after connecting bank accounts or Paypal to the app
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Customers who link their bank accounts to Instacart are at particular risk, per a cybersecurity expert. "Just like you can get a bad Uber driver, you can get a bad Instacart shopper," Hatter said. Instacart told Insider that it runs background checks on its shoppers. Instacart shoppers have had to contend with declining earnings lately. Are you an Instacart shopper or customer with a story to share?

Persons: Dave Hatter, Hatter, Instacart, Kroger, KDFW Organizations: Shoppers, Service, Paypal, Kroger, KDFW Locations: Wall, Silicon, Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Instacart, Texas, Ohio

☆ Gig workers are tracking customers who reduce tips after delivery by marking their homes on Google Maps
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Workers for Instacart and other delivery apps are marking tip-baiters on Google Maps. Several points labeled "Tip Baiter" disappeared from Google Maps after Insider reached out to Google for comment. Some gig workers are fighting back and warning colleagues not to take orders from tip baiters by labeling customers' homes on Google Maps. But several points labeled "Tip Baiter" disappeared from Google Maps after Insider reached out to Google for comment on this story. The Minnesota shopper told Insider about another Costco order she delivered to a restaurant outside of the Twin Cities.

Persons: Instacart Organizations: Instacart, Google, Service, Costco, Workers, Walmart, Twin, North Carolina Locations: Wall, Silicon, Minnesota, Milwaukee , Wisconsin, Twin Cities, North

☆ Instacart forbids shoppers from giving customers paper receipts from their order. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Instacart shoppers aren't allowed to give customers the paper receipt from the store. The markups often surprise customers, three Instacart shoppers told Insider. The in-app reminder that Instacart shoppers receive to keep the paper receipt from the store. Instacart shoppers don't directly benefit from the markups on items that Instacart sellsSome markups are substantial. In North Carolina, another Instacart shopper told Insider about a recent trip that involved buying an expensive bottle of wine.

Persons: Instacart, vane.ssota Organizations: Service, Shoppers, Costco Locations: Instacart, Wall, Silicon, Oregon, California, Virginia, North Carolina

☆ Instacart shoppers say the highest-earning orders are getting more extreme, with demands like 72-mile drives
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Shoppers say the highest-earning orders on the app are increasingly not worth the pay. "After an hour-and-a-half drive, that ice cream would've been milk," the shopper told Insider. Instacart told Insider on Monday that shoppers have control over which batches they choose to shop, and that it pays according to the complexity of each order. In the past, high-paying orders have been one way for Instacart shoppers to maximize their earnings. Are you an Instacart shopper with a story idea to share?

Persons: —, Instacart, Daniel Danker Organizations: Shoppers, Service, Costco, Food Lion, Kroger, IRS Locations: Wall, Silicon, Virginia, Georgia, St, Louis , Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Utah

☆ Instacart drivers say they'd rather quit and work for McDonald's or DoorDash after the company slashed their minimum order pay from $7 to $4
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Instacart shoppers are considering leaving the platform after it cut base pay for filling orders. Last week, Instacart started paying its gig workers as little as $4 in base pay per order, Insider reported on Monday. Base pay is an amount that Instacart shoppers and drivers are guaranteed to make if they accept an order, though they can earn more from customer tips. Daniel Danker, Instacart's chief product officer, told Insider that the company pays "guaranteed batch earnings that are 2x higher than other app-based companies." On a Reddit page for Instacart shoppers, some workers say a traditional job is starting to look more appealing.

Persons: Instacart, Daniel Danker, aren't, InstaCart, they've, That's, Alexia Hudson, I've Organizations: Service, Base, McDonalds, Workers, Instacart Locations: Wall, Silicon, Charlotte , North Carolina

☆ Instacart just slashed pay for delivery drivers — from a minimum of $7 per order to $4. Now they're more reliant on your tips.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Alex Bitter | Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Instacart has cut its minimum base pay to $4 from $7 per order, angering many who work for the app. The cut affects base pay, or an amount that Instacart workers are guaranteed to get if they accept an order. Instacart announced the lower base pay in a July 20 blog post entitled "creating new ways to earn." In the post, Instacart said orders that involve picking and delivering many items "may pay $10 or more" in base pay. Lower base pay means more reliance on tipsBoth Hudson and the driver in Tennessee said that the base pay cut makes customers' tips a more important source of income.

Persons: Instacart, Daniel Danker, Danker, I've, Alexia Hudson, she's, it's, Sergio Avedian, Guy, That's, Uber Organizations: Service, Instacart, Shoppers Locations: Wall, Silicon, Instacart, Tennessee, Indiana, South Carolina, Charlotte, she's, Los Angeles

☆ Instacart shoppers are camping out in parking lots to compete for orders
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Instacart shoppers said that they are waiting around for hours in parking lots just to claim orders. Insider spoke with five Instacart shoppers across the country about their recent experiences picking and delivering orders on the app. "Overwhelmingly, shoppers say they choose to earn income through the Instacart platform because of the freedom and independence they get with a flexible schedule," Instacart told Insider. Insider sourceBundling orders helps Instacart, but shoppers say that they're a burdenBatch orders — when Instacart combines multiple shoppers' orders — are another source of frustration for workers. "Multi-order batches have been a part of our earnings structure for many years and represent only a small number of full-service batches," Instacart told Insider.

Persons: It's, —, Caroline, Instacart, Jim, Alex Bitter Organizations: Service, Instacart, Costco Locations: Utah, Caroline, Indiana, Maryland, Illinois

☆ Costco is telling Instacart shoppers: Stop lurking in the parking lot while you wait for orders
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Alex Bitter | Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Some Costco locations are asking Instacart workers to wait outside of their parking lots. "I'm sure there are some people who are doing dumb stuff in parking lots," one commenter on the Reddit post said. Instacart does not require shoppers to wait in a store's parking lot to be eligible for an order. "Shoppers who are shopping an active batch may utilize the Costco parking lot," Instacart said. "Access to batches extends beyond each Costco parking lot," the company said.

Persons: —, we're, Instacart, Alex Bitter, Dominick Reuter Organizations: Costco, Costco doesn't, Walmart, Target, Service, Shoppers, dreuter Locations: Los Angeles

☆ Do You Yell at Instacart Shoppers? You Might Get Blacklisted
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Jaewon Kang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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