How To Build A Grocery App Like Instacart?

The pandemic lock-down has caused a significant impact on the on-demand grocery industry around the world. So to say, the Covid pandemic has made millions of customers heavily rely on online grocery platforms, thereby setting up the right stage for entrepreneurs who wants to get into the business of grocery delivery. Instacart is one such prime beneficiary that offers contact less grocery delivery services to customers that it witnesses a drastic surge in app usage in recent times.

Statistics Affirming The Great Boom Witnessed By The Grocery Industry Due To The Covid-19 Pandemic

• As per the latest reports given in May 2020, there was a 202% increase in online grocery delivery search in the wake of the Covid outbreak.
• 38% of shoppers opted for online grocery shopping due to the fear inflicted by Corona-virus.
• Grocery delivery and pickup sales surged from 1.2 billion U.S. dollars in August 2019 to 7.2 billion U.S. dollars in June 2020.

Instacart app taking new heights in this pandemic seems to be hopeful and assuring for business enthusiasts. Therefore, entrepreneurs can take inspiration to launch an app like Instacart and grow them into a powerful business. Let’s now know more about the strategy followed by Instacart’s business model and the necessary information required to develop a successful Instacart like app.

What Is The USP Of Instacart’s Business Model?

The two Unique selling points that made Instacart this successful today is:

• Fastest Doorstep Delivery
• No-inventory model

This is achieved effectively by the business model that the app follows. Instacart is a peer-to-peer marketplace that supports a three-tier customer strategy. It does not directly hold inventory but instead ties up with other partners who manage inventory and make goods available for delivery. The business model solely focuses on bridging the gap between the consumers and contractors. More details regarding the key players of this business are given below.

1. Retail Partners: Instacart partners with multiple registered stores and lists their enterprise on the app platform. The shop can display its products for purchase on the Insatcart app.

2. Instacart Shoppers: Instacart shoppers are delivery providers who get notified of the orders placed by the users via their mobile application. Upon receiving the orders, the shoppers collect the items from the stores and deliver them to the users. They are divided into two categories:

• In-Store Instacart Shoppers: The in-store shoppers are employed on a part-time basis with Instacart. They do the shopping of groceries, making the order ready for pickup by the customers. They don’t provide delivery service but needs to keep track of the buyer’s arrival using the app.
• Full-Service Instacart Shoppers: They are independent contractors who use the Instacart platforms to shop and also provide delivery services to customers.

3. Consumer: They places an order for groceries using the Instacart app. They can make orders from their preferred stores or purchase things from multiple stores and place orders combinedly.

Decoding The Workflow Of The App

• Users can signup for the app and enter their address location. The app on accessing the user’s location details enlists the nearby stores in the locality.
• The user can purchase the items listed on the app platform, make payment for the same and schedule a date and time for delivery.
• The shopper gets notified about the order placed by the user via a mobile app. The shopper shops on behalf of the customer and prepare the order for delivery.
• The shopper makes payment after purchase by swiping the prepaid debit card issued by Instacart.
• Customers can either choose to get them delivered to their homes or go and collect them directly from the store.

What Are The Steps You Need To Follow To Build A Similar App Like Instacart?

• Investigate the local market, Understand and analyze the needs and demands of the user.
• Plan ways on how you can make money with your app.
• Seek the help of a skilled developer or app development company and decide on a feature stack for your app according to the requirements.
• Produce a minimum viable product while starting, so that you can understand its functioning and drawbacks, which you can improvise while developing a full-fledged app.
• Test your app thoroughly to avoid any glitches in its performance and to ensure the concept works properly.
• Launch your app on all major platforms to capture a wide customer base.
• Attract investors and keep upgrading your product from time to time.

What Are The Standard Features To Implement In Your Instacart Clone App?

As discussed earlier, there are three ends of the app: the customer app, the shopper app, Admin panel. However, all these apps require core features to carry out each of their functions effectively.

Common features of the buyer and shopper app include

Quick Account Setup: Signing up into the app using an email or simply using any of their existing accounts lets users access your app.

Profile Details: Users can give in their details such as name, contact number, email and address location for deliveries in their profile. As the marketplace grows, you can enable your users to customize their profile by keeping profile pictures, choosing themes, etc.

Notifications: Shoppers can be notified of the orders and messages from the customers. Consumers need to be notified about delivery statuses, new stores joining the platforms, latest updates, offers and deals, etc.

Payment Options: It is a critical feature for any app. You can provide different payment gateway channels for the customers to pick up their best convenient option for making transactions.

Chats: In-app chat functionality is essential to establish a better interaction between customers, shoppers and the app’s customer team.

Order History: It makes ordering even simpler. Customers can pick items from previous orders without searching the frequently bought items, and a reordering option added to the shopper profile.

Reviews and Ratings: Valuable feedback for the services provided increases the transparency and trustworthiness of your app.

Are You Ready To Get Started?

On-demand industries are one of the most promising niches to venture into in this digital age, with an app like Instacart that is seeing a massive revenue gain. To attain success quickly, you have to come up with solutions that cater to the latest needs and demands. All this process is made simpler if you have a reliable team with enough expertise in delivery app development by your side. And we, as a leading expert in mobile app development, feel more than happy to help you build a preeminent Instacart clone solution to take your business to heights.