Instacart 🛒 💪

Instacart is absolutely crushing it right now. The stock is up about 100% YTD and, most importantly, their new ads are outstanding. Have you seen the one with the kids and the kazoos? A classic.

Over the past few weeks, we've started ordering more from Instacart as we're attempting to break our habit of ordering takeout or going out -- it's the New York way. There's a few things that I absolutely love about their product.

1. Attention to detail: In the past, my biggest pain point was paying a premium price on Instacart vs. in-store, and then having to pay a delivery fee, add a tip, etc. on top of that. I don't know how long they've had this, but I love this simple tag that tells me prices are on par.

2. Creative partnerships: Their APIs unlock such unique distribution. The NYT cooking experience is magical, and there are a ton of other companies, like GE and WeightWatchers, that are integrating with Instacart as well.
 
3. Thoughtful innovation: Instacart's CEO had a great post about their Caper Carts, which will be tech-enabled shopping carts that can be used in-store. The carts will automatically tally up a customer's grocery bill as they shop and then enable them to pay for it right on the cart. I'm sure customers can also expect ads, cross-sell, and incentives as they shop, but it seems like Instacart is planning on doing it in a very tasteful way. Not to be overlooked, I hope there is substantial investment in the wheels of this cart as well. Not having to go through checkout is one thing, but not having annoying squeaks as you move from aisle to aisle take things to a whole other level.

It'll be interesting to see Instacart's revenue mix continue to grow especially with ads + subscription.

-Dan