It’s been one year and Whole Foods Market customers have enjoyed a heightened customer experience through the company’s partnership with Instacart, a one-hour grocery delivery service.
“Our customers are responding very well to this added convenience in the 17 cities where the partnership operates and we’re always looking to add new, innovative, and convenient ways to help make the Whole Foods Market shopping experience better,” Whole Foods Market spokesperson Michael Silverman told Loyalty360.
In February, Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb said that since Whole Foods announced its partnership with Instacart in September 2014, Whole Foods’ average weekly online delivery sales surpassed the $1 million mark.
“With online delivery sales as high as 5% of total sales in some of our stores, we’re very excited about the future potential as we expand our reach to more markets, provide richer content highlighting our quality standard, and broaden our product offering,” Robb said at the time. “We are exploring opportunities to extend this successful partnership, including expanding functionality to support our affinity program.”
In the first year of the partnership, Whole Foods Market customers collectively saved 970,000 hours to spend however they chose. Instacart delivered millions of items from America’s healthiest grocery store over the past year, including:
2.2 million bananas, enough to stretch from Boston to Philadelphia if placed end-to-end
1.25 million apples, enough to bake an apple pie that would cover the entire infield at a professional baseball game
4 million cage free eggs, enough to serve an omelet to all 971,000 residents of Austin, Texas
500,000 avocados, enough to make a cup of guacamole for every fan at four sold out pro football games
Whole Foods Market shoppers had a clear favorite when ordering groceries delivered by Instacart: Fresh produce. More than 40% of all Whole Foods Market shopping baskets delivered by Instacart featured fresh produce items. The top five most frequently purchased products over the past year were bananas, avocados, carrots, lemons, and limes.
Instacart currently delivers Whole Foods Market groceries in 17 metropolitan areas: Atlanta; Austin; Boston; Boulder; Chicago; Denver; Houston; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Miami; New York City; Philadelphia; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; San Jose; Seattle; and Washington, D.C.
By ordering at Instacart.com or via the Instacart mobile app, Whole Foods Market customers select their zip code, add items to a virtual cart, and then choose a delivery window (within one hour, within two hours, or at a scheduled time) and check out. Instacart personal shoppers confirm incoming orders on their smartphones, shop for the items at Whole Foods Market stores, and then deliver orders to customers in the designated delivery timeframe.
All Instacart customers receive free delivery on their first order. After that, the cost is just $3.99 for two-hour delivery or $5.99 for one-hour delivery. Customers can also purchase a $99 annual Instacart Express membership and receive free delivery on any order over $35.