Instacart will soon let users order food in the app from Uber Eats

Instacart and Uber Eats are teaming up to bring restaurant delivery to the grocery delivery platform in the coming weeks across the U.S. The move pairs two of the largest food and goods delivery platforms as they each look to charge growth and bulk up profits in a competitive field. 

Instacart will roll out a new “Restaurants” tab within its app that allows users to choose from nearby restaurants, browse menus, place orders, and track deliveries, all powered by Uber Eats and Uber couriers. It’s unclear how the companies will split revenue. 

Instacart, which went public last year, saw its growth begin to slow in 2021, following the pandemic boom. The New York Times reported in early 2022 that the company’s then CEO and cofounder approached Uber and DoorDash if they were interested in acquiring or partnering with the company. At the time, nothing transpired from the deals. Instacart, which brought on former Facebook executive Fidji Simo as its new CEO, has been focusing on higher-margin online advertising rather than the low-margin delivery services to sustain its profits. 

“Through this partnership, Instacart customers now have access to both the best online grocery selection in the U.S. and restaurant delivery, making it even easier for them to conveniently tackle all their food needs from a single app,” Simo said in a press release on Tuesday. 

The partnership, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement, is part of its goal to help people “go anywhere and get anything,” a recurring tagline for the company. Uber has grown a successful food delivery business, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that made millions reliant on ordering meals to their homes. The company was able to use the revenue from its Eats business to counteract the decline in rideshare, helping set it up for continued post-pandemic growth. Uber has also expanded its Eats business to include groceries.

“For Uber, powering restaurant delivery in the Instacart app is another way to help drive more orders to Uber Eats restaurant partners,” the companies said in a joint release. “This new channel also enables Uber to extend its leading restaurant selection to millions of customers across the U.S., including families in suburban markets that use Instacart.”

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