Instacart

Instacart is an Internet-based grocery delivery service.

The service

Instacart's service is mainly provided through a smartphone app, available on iOS and Android platforms, apart from its website. The iOS app allows customers to use Apple Pay. Initially Instacart shoppers simply went to a store and purchased the ordered items at retail and, in addition to the delivery charge, added a markup of 10 to 20 percent. As the business has developed, the firm has established relationships with grocery firms which share their (store) existing markup, allowing Instacart users to shop at in-store prices.

The company hires delivery workers and drivers as independent contractors. In June 2015, Instacart began giving shoppers in San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago the option to work as part-time employees, later extending its offer to shoppers in Atlanta, Miami, and Washington D.C.

This shift in independent contract to employment status not only laid off hundreds of workers, but was in direct response to the notion that the legality of classifying their employees as independent contractors was no longer valid.