Grocery Delivery Service Instacart Expands New Employee Option to Shoppers in Atlanta, Miami and Washington, DC

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Published: July 13, 2015 7:00 a.m. ET

That Makes Five Cities Total, With More to Come

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Jul 13, 2015 (Marketwired via COMTEX) -- Instacart (www.Instacart.com), the fast-growing grocery delivery service whose workers hand pick and deliver items from trusted local stores, announced today that it is offering in-store shoppers in additional cities the option to apply for new positions as part-time employees. The option already existed for in-store shoppers in Boston and Chicago. Effective July 13, it is also available in Atlanta, Miami and Washington, DC. The company plans to expand the program to additional cities in the future.

"The reception to this program in Boston and Chicago has been great, with most of our in-store shoppers electing to apply for this new position as a part-time employee," said Apoorva Mehta, Founder and CEO of Instacart. "This model enables us to train our shoppers to improve the efficiency and quality of order picking, which makes for a better customer experience."

Instacart initially announced this new option on June 22. It is open to Instacart's in-store shoppers, who are embedded in retail partners' stores picking orders for customers. Instacart has found that this model improves efficiency in both order picking and delivery. Based on the company's experience in Boston and Chicago, it expects the majority of its current in-store contractors to opt for part-time employee status.

Originally launched in San Francisco and since expanded into many other cities, Instacart has fundamentally changed the traditional grocery delivery space by connecting customers with workers who shop for and deliver grocery orders providing their own transportation in as little as one hour. This eliminates the need for costly infrastructure such as inventory, warehouses and trucks. In January 2015, Forbes named Instacart "America's Most Promising Company."

New customers can open an account at www.Instacart.com, and get free delivery on their first order of $10 or more. Instacart also offers Instacart Express -- an annual membership that eliminates delivery fees for all orders of $35 or more. The cost is just $99 per year.

About Instacart Instacart allows people to order groceries online by connecting them with workers who hand pick items at customers' local, favorite stores and deliver straight to their doors. Founded in San Francisco in 2012, Instacart has quickly scaled to 16 cities across the US and partnered with dozens of grocery retailers, including popular national chains (Whole Foods Market, Costco, Petco) as well as local, regional grocers (Fairway Market, Bi-Rite, Plum Market). By combining a personal touch with cutting-edge technology, Instacart offers customers a simple solution to save time and eat fresh food from the grocery brands they trust. Instacart is the only grocery service that can meet today's on-demand lifestyle by delivering in as little as one hour. First delivery is free at www.Instacart.com.