Dive Brief: 

• Instacart this week launched the Instacart Developer Platform (IDP), a solution that enables third parties to integrate the grocery tech company’s functionality inside their websites and apps, according to a press release. 
• Developers leveraging IDP over time will have access to same-day fulfillment of over 1 billion products, Instacart’s item catalog and real-time consumer insights. Instacart has partnered with over a dozen launch partners for the platform, including WeightWatchers, New York Times Cooking and GE Appliances. 
• The first version of IDP is currently live and open for partner applications, with additional features slated to arrive in the coming months. The new offering from Instacart sees the company continuing to shore up additional revenue opportunities.

Dive Insight: 

Instacart is angling itself as the solution for brands looking to more quickly turn consumers’ inspiration into action with the launch of its developer platform. The company shared a use case of IDP in action. A user of a meal-planning app traditionally would find a recipe but then need to jot down the details before taking a trip to the grocery store. With IDP, the user can find their preferred local retailer, add ingredients to a digital cart and enjoy a delivery experience inclusive of real-time updates and replacement alerts with the click of a button.

“With the launch of the Instacart Developer Platform, we’re taking over a decade of technology we’ve built to power the Instacart marketplace and top retailer storefronts, and offering it to a broader range of businesses, turning discovery-centric apps into full-service experiences that can also deliver tangible goods,” said Daniel Danker, chief product officer and head of online grocery at Instacart, in a statement.

IDP is billed as a zero-cost way for retailers and brands to attract new customers, drive incremental order volume and unlock new opportunities for targeted ad placements. Companies in categories like food and health and wellness over time will gain access to Instacart’s item catalog, same-day fulfillment of over 1 billion products in as little as 30 minutes and real-time insights regarding what items are on store shelves from local retailers.

Additional benefits of IDP include the ability to open up monetization opportunities like affiliate commissions. The platform is framed as a way for new artificial intelligence products to develop a complete customer experience. For Instacart, IDP has the potential to shore up loyalty from customers who may be new to grocery delivery. 

Instacart teamed with over a dozen launch partners that will introduce IDP integrations over the coming months. Among them is WeightWatchers, which will integrate Instacart into its “What to Eat” feature within the WeightWatchers app to allow members to easily add ingredients for recipes to their Instacart cart to be delivered. New York Times Cooking will also leverage the platform to allow users to shop ingredients for various recipes.

The grocery tech company is also working with appliance manufacturer GE Appliances to make Instacart ordering and same-day delivery available for shoppable recipes on the LCD touchscreen of select GE Profile, Cafe and Monogram wall ovens and slide-in ranges. The duo will integrate Instacart into the GE Appliances SmartHQ app to be compatible with GE’s Flavorly AI custom recipe experience. Consumers will begin to see new features in the fall. 

Other meal-planning and wellness apps Instacart is teaming with include: Biocoach, DinnerTime, Eatlove, eMeals, Foodsmart, Innit, Intent, Jow, Jupiter, Maple, North Fork, Relish and Smart Commerce. Looking ahead, the company plans to unveil additional functionality for its IDP like real-time product search, product availability and a retailer location finder. 

The latest release from the grocery tech company comes as it continues building out additional revenue streams, particularly on the retail media front, with moves that include AI-powered smart carts and a deal around Google Shopping ads. The company last week received its first advertising accreditation from the Media Rating Council for its impression, click and viewability metrics across a variety of ad formats, potentially giving its retail media offering a leg up.