How Instacart Goes Above and Beyond for Customers: Simplicity, Transparency, and Billions in Savings

Instacart’s mission is to create a world where everyone has access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together. Every day, we’re proud to help millions of people access the essentials they need, save money on groceries, and save time when they need a helping hand. 

We do that by offering a service that’s simple, straightforward, transparent, and customer-friendly. 

That includes waiving delivery fees on everyone’s first three orders, so families can easily try Instacart and discover whether our platform fits their needs. It means always being transparent about any fees, ensuring customers always know what they will pay before checkout. And it includes providing one of the most transparent, customer-friendly subscription programs available, unlocking $0 delivery fees on grocery orders of $10 or more* – the lowest among grocery delivery platforms.

We’re proud to provide these services to millions of families across North America — families who frequently tell us that Instacart helps them access and afford the nutritious food and everyday essentials they need. In fact, in just the past few years, as the cost of groceries continues to weigh on consumers’ minds, we’ve helped Instacart customers save more than $3 billion on groceries and other household items through a combination of Instacart+ membership benefits as well as other discounts, deals, and offerings — that’s an average savings of more than $5 per Instacart order.

These principles around transparency and affordability guide how we build our services — and how we respond to questions about them.

We’ve reached a settlement with the FTC to resolve questions they have raised about our services and our membership program. To be clear, though: We flatly deny any allegations of wrongdoing by the agency, and we believe the foundation of the FTC’s inquiry was fundamentally flawed. And to avoid potential confusion, we want to clarify that, as of this settlement announcement, we are not aware of any other pending FTC investigations. We stand firmly behind the integrity, transparency, and value of our programs. 

This settlement allows us to move forward and remain focused on what’s most important to our company: delivering value for our customers, shoppers, and retail and brand partners in the communities we serve. 

Clear Fees. No Surprises. 

Across the Instacart platform, for Instacart+ members and non-members alike, we’re always transparent about fees.

We clearly display all fees before checkout – so customers know exactly what they’ll pay. We don’t charge any hidden or unnecessary fees, and we clearly label any fees for additional services that customers may choose – such as long-distance or prescription deliveries. Instacart’s fees reflect the real cost of providing high-quality, time-saving services that bring nutritious food and essentials directly to people’s doorsteps. 

We’re equally clear about what “$0 delivery” means. 

For new customers using our waived delivery fee on their first three qualifying orders, the delivery fee is truly $0 — giving families a straightforward, low-risk way to try Instacart and see how it works. 

At the same time, we clearly and consistently distinguish delivery fees from service fees, which are always shown as a separate, itemized line. That distinction is made clear at multiple points in the experience — including in the app, in marketing emails, and at checkout before an order is placed — so customers understand exactly what they’re paying for.

A Membership Program Built for Real Value

At its core, our Instacart+ membership program is designed to help families save on groceries and everyday essentials at a time when affordability matters more than ever. The program not only complies with regulatory standards, but as noted above, it's one of the most clear, straightforward, affordability-focused, and consumer-friendly subscription programs on the market. In fact, outside experts have analyzed our platform against others across the industry, and they found that Instacart offers one of the clearest and simplest user experiences compared to our peers. 

Here’s why: First, anyone has the opportunity to try the Instacart+ program for free for 14 days. This helps customers experience all of the program’s benefits before they spend a penny on membership, so they can road test the program and make a fully informed decision about whether Instacart+ makes sense for them. And as part of our commitment to transparency, the Instacart+ terms are clearly disclosed before signup, again during the free trial, and repeatedly throughout the membership period, including reminders and emails before renewal. 

Easy to Try, Easy to Cancel

Of course, we understand some customers will decide they no longer want to be an Instacart+ member – whether making that decision after the free 14-day trial or after being a subscriber for a longer period of time. For individuals who do not wish to continue, Instacart makes it incredibly quick and easy to cancel membership.

Unlike other platforms where cancellation is hidden or burdensome, we provide a prominently placed cancel button – accessible through the same platform consumers used to sign up. It takes no more than a few clicks to cancel. Our data also shows that customers who decide to renew their Instacart+ membership do so because they like the experience, find value, and want to keep taking advantage of the savings.

Even in the rare case a customer doesn’t cancel by their renewal date, Instacart frequently provides refunds through our generous refund policy – another representation of our commitment to deliver transparent membership details, resolve customer issues quickly, and go above and beyond our peers and what’s required by federal and state regulations. Instacart offers automatic full refunds for 5 days after annual renewal if the membership isn’t used and in many cases, even out-of-policy refund requests are honored.

This is all part of Instacart’s unwavering commitment to transparency and delivering a clear, seamless, customer-first experience. That’s why our Instacart+ membership program is built to provide value to customers and save them money when ordering groceries and other essentials. 

It’s also part of our relentless focus on affordability. In his first 90 days, CEO Chris Rogers has made affordability his top priority — with real, measurable progress. In addition to the $3 billion in customer savings in recent years, Instacart is driving the most aggressive shift toward retailer price parity — where online prices are the exact same as in-store prices — in our company’s 13-year history. Over the past year, retailers offering price parity have on average grown more than 10 percentage points faster than those that markup — and they retain customers better on our platform.

That focus on affordability extends well beyond the four corners of our platform. Across the country, we’ve worked with leading nonprofits to deliver more than 10 million servings of fruits and vegetables to families in underserved communities. We’ve partnered with local governments to unlock the power of delivery for residents facing food insecurity. We’ve teamed up with military organizations to make it easier for service members and their families to put food on the table. And we’ve helped over 300 food banks bring their food drives online — so they have what they need to support their communities. This work isn’t separate from our business; it’s a reflection of what affordability and access look like in practice.

We will continue to put the needs of our customers first — and transparency and affordability front and center — as we pursue our mission to ensure everyone has access to the food they need and more time to enjoy it together.

*Service and other fees apply. Costco orders $35+.