Instacart, a popular grocery delivery company, has announced a new partnership with Uber Eats that will allow its customers to order food from restaurants in addition to their regular grocery purchases. This new feature will be available to Instacart users in the United States in the coming weeks through a “Restaurants” tab in the company’s app.
Under this partnership, Instacart Plus members, who pay either $99 per year or $9.99 per month for free grocery deliveries on orders over $35, will also receive free restaurant delivery for orders exceeding $35. Regular Instacart members, however, will be required to pay Uber Eats delivery fees for their restaurant orders.
While Instacart did not disclose the full financial details of the partnership, the company stated that it would earn an affiliate fee for every restaurant order placed through its app. Uber Eats drivers will be responsible for delivering the restaurant orders to Instacart customers.
The decision to offer restaurant delivery comes as Instacart recognizes that while most Americans shop for groceries at least once per week, either online or in-store, more than one-third of them also order takeout or delivery at least once a week. By partnering with Uber Eats, Instacart aims to meet this additional need for its customers.
This new offering is expected to give Instacart a competitive edge in the grocery delivery market, where it currently holds a 25% share in the United States, second only to Walmart at 51%, according to YipitData, a market research company. Other delivery companies, such as DoorDash and Uber Eats itself, also have a small but growing presence in this market.
Uber Eats believes that the partnership with Instacart will help drive more customers to its restaurant partners, particularly in suburban areas where Instacart has a strong user base.
As of last summer, Instacart reported having 7.7 million monthly active users, although it is unclear how many of these customers also use Uber Eats.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.