Instacart checks out another Amazon ad sales exec as hiring spree continues

Instacart picked up another Amazon advertising veteran, Ryan Mayward, to help grow its digital ad strategy at a time when the e-commerce startup is riding the booming online-delivery market. On Monday, Instacart announced that it hired Mayward as VP of ad sales. Mayward was a sales director at Amazon for nearly a decade, where he helped Amazon grow its agency relationships and advertising technology business. At Instacart, Mayward rejoins Seth Dallaire, chief revenue officer, who left Amazon as head of its global ad sales team in 2019. “At Instacart, Ryan will focus on developing and deepening relationships with CPG brands and advertising agencies,” Instacart said in its announcement. “The strong relationships that Ryan has built with brands and agencies around the world during his time at Amazon are a testament to his deep understanding of brand and client needs.” Instacart is looking to cement itself as an alternative to Amazon, focused on grocery retailers, food makers and consumer products companies. The company counts Kraft Heinz, P&G, Unilever and General Mills among its top partners. Instacart also is reportedly on track for an initial public offering this year, which could value the company at $30 billion. Instacart was one of the breakout companies during the COVID-19 pandemic lock-downs, which sent many U.S. consumers shopping for food online for the first time. E-commerce platforms, including classic companies like Walmart and Target, are becoming essential players in the online advertising marketplace, too, as brands need to spend money to appear high in search results on apps and websites. Instacart is developing ad technology that allows the sellers on its site to show up on its digital shelves, much like they do on Amazon. Last week, eMarketer issued a report that showed U.S. online grocery sales would top $100 billion for the first time in 2021. In 2020, U.S. online grocery sales surged 54% vs. 2019 to $95.8 billion, according to eMarketer. In 2019, pre-pandemic, 33.8% of the U.S. population was shopping for groceries online, eMarketer reported, and in 2021, 49.7% of the U.S. population will buy groceries online. Instacart says it is on a hiring spree, and expects to grow its corporate team by more than 50% in the first half of the year. Last month, Instacart picked up Asha Sharma from Facebook to become the chief operating officer. In January, Nick Giovanni joined from Goldman Sachs as its new chief financial officer.

Instacart checks out another Amazon ad sales exec as hiring spree continues

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