Instacart adds temporary fuel surcharge

Instacart has announced a temporary fuel surcharge to combat the rising gas prices for its shoppers. 

The surcharge will add an additional $.40 on customer orders across the Instacart marketplace, with a clear indication of the price increase on the order before the customer accepts it. The surcharge comes as gas prices hit record highs, making the out-of-pocket cost for delivery drivers more expensive. 

“In a time of increased fuel costs across North America, we know that every cent counts, and we’re hopeful this temporary fuel assistance will help offset some of the near-term challenges that shoppers are facing,” said Tom Maguire, VP of operations and care at Instacart. “While shoppers on our platform tend to spend more time shopping and less time driving, we know that there is still an acute need to address rising gas prices and make sure we’re supporting shoppers during this time. One of our core commitments to shoppers is to provide the ingredients to earn on their terms — this temporary assistance is one way we’re delivering on that promise and helping shoppers meet their financial goals.”

In addition to the surcharge, Instacart is pitching its partnership with GetUpside to customers, which offers cash-back rewards on fuel.

Instacart recently underwent a ‘brand refresh’ that saw the delivery service get a new logo and color scheme. In the past month, Instacart added the new Shoppable Recipes feature, which came shortly after Instacart added three new features to its platform: live phone support, a safety toolkit and an in-app navigation feature.

Instacart works with over 750 retail partners to deliver private label products across several categories. Instacart’s platform is available to over 85% of U.S. households and 90% of Canadian households.