One Million Products Discovered and Delivered Through Free Gift Campaigns on Instacart

Connecting consumers with their new favorite brands with free product sampling

We've hit an exciting milestone: over one million products delivered to consumers through our free gift advertising offering, designed to help people discover brands they'll love while shopping on Instacart. 

Instacart’s free gift offering is a unique way for brands to offer samples by giving consumers the opportunity to add a free, full-sized product to their cart¹. We recently brought our Big Game campaign to life with a week of Instacart game day deals, including rotating free snacks. Consumers scored free Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs, and more leading up to the game. Produce brand Driscoll’s also partnered with Instacart to deliver free clamshells of Only The Finest™ strawberries to celebrate the rare Strawberry Moon.

Free gifts are curated to ensure a seamless shopping experience – they’re highlighted directly on product cards for items with a high likelihood of being in stock at the selected retailer, making it easy for customers to spot and add them to their cart. It’s a convenient way to explore new products and enjoy exclusive savings.

Instacart’s advertising solutions are designed to enhance the shopping experience, connecting consumers with relevant products that match their tastes. Our free gift ad unit allows brands to offer their full-sized products at no cost to consumers, creating a fun, risk-free way to discover new favorites. 

This sampling offering has been particularly impactful for growing, emerging brands looking to connect with new audiences. The results speak for themselves: in one recent free gift campaign, 80% of consumers who chose to receive a free product were first-time customers, and 39% returned to purchase the brand again within two months². 

Emerging brands like BrightFarms leveraged free gifting to reach new customers on Instacart. BrightFarms partnered with Instacart to offer free salad kits, helping customers stick to their health goals beyond “Quitters Day” by making fresh, sustainable produce more accessible. 

Our marketplace is designed to drive product discovery, opening up opportunities for consumers to explore new, unique, up-and-coming brands that complement their shopping preferences – and might just become new staples in their baskets. 

One million products later, we're excited to see how our free gift offering continues to help consumers discover great brands and products while shopping on Instacart. 

For CPG brands, full-sized sampling is a unique way to drive trial on Instacart. Free gift campaigns are available as a self-serve experience in Instacart Ads Manager.

1. Minimum purchase and delivery and service fees apply. ↩︎
2.  Prior results do not guarantee future outcomes. ↩︎