Ahead of its IPO, Instacart is looking to prove to investors and consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands that the app is just as good as roaming grocery aisles in real life. The company is adding more features to its ad platform, such as shoppable video, to try to cater to more brands and increase customers’ basket sizes.
“We want to be more inspirational for consumers, rather than transactional, and believe ads can help with driving that full-funnel awareness,” said Ali Miller, VP of ad product at Instacart.
But it’s not clear if retaining advertisers and customers will come easily. In 2020, Instacart had over $23 billion in grocery sales, up from just $7 billion in 2019, according to eMarketer. It's estimated that sales could reach $30 billion this year. Earlier this month, Instacart filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public. But in March, the company slashed its own valuation by almost 40% to $24 billion. Now, the company will have to get investors to look beyond the departure of executives including Carolyn Everson and Seth Dellaire, and prove to advertisers that its growth in the pandemic and consumer preferences for delivery will stick.