Instacart, a prominent grocery technology company in North America, has announced an expansion of its in-store advertising capabilities to include all brand partners on its AI-powered Caper Carts. This move allows advertisers to reach customers both online and in-store with a single campaign. Starting in April, shoppable display campaigns will automatically extend across the Instacart Marketplace and appear on Caper Cart digital screens without additional effort from brands.
Caper Cart ads are designed to be inventory- and aisle-aware, ensuring that advertisements are displayed only when relevant products are available. For example, Diana’s Bananas can promote their products through Instacart Ads Manager for visibility both online and directly in-store. Ali Miller, Instacart’s VP of Ads Product, stated, “We’ve built Instacart Ads to drive results for brands on our platform, and have proven that this also drives incremental in-store sales.”
The new advertising capability is part of the broader Instacart Ads ecosystem which aims to connect brands with consumers through omnichannel campaigns. The system simplifies ad management across various channels including the Instacart marketplace and strategic partnerships with Google, Instagram, NBCUniversal, among others.
The announcement follows a successful pilot program involving over 50 consumer packaged goods (CPG) partners such as Mondelēz and challenger brands like Diana’s Bananas. Niccolo Gloazzo from Kettle & Fire praised the platform's ease of use: “Today’s announcement that our Instacart Ads campaigns will now automatically syndicate to Caper Carts underscores their team’s commitment to innovation.”
Stan Keller from Diana’s Bananas highlighted the impact of this technology: “Our recent pilot with Caper Carts allowed us to syndicate our digital campaigns directly into physical stores.” Brock Hendricks from Talking Rain Beverage Company added that engaging consumers across multiple channels has been valuable.
Mindy Shaltry from Mondelēz International emphasized their collaborative partnership with Instacart during this rollout: “This in-store ad enabled us to seamlessly connect with more consumers during key seasonal moments.” More formats for Instacart Ads are expected to be available on Caper Carts soon.