NY Times, WeightWatchers, GE Among First to Embed Instacart Fulfillment Tech via New API

Instacart has launched the Instacart Developer Platform (IDP), a publicly available API program that will enable third-party companies to integrate Instacart’s fulfillment and delivery functionality into their websites and apps.

The new program allows developers and companies with app- and web-based experiences to integrate with Instacart’s marketplace, allowing users to order the products mentioned or needed (e.g. for meal planning or cooking content, for example).

“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. “This enables mainstream services as well as new products born out of emerging AI capabilities to offer truly complete experiences for their customers.”

The New York Times Cooking, WeightWatchers and GE Appliances are among a dozen launch partners that will debut IDP integrations over the coming months. Users viewing recipes on The New York Times Cooking section will be able to easily order all the ingredients they’ll need via Instacart, and WeightWatchers is planning a similar integration for the What to Eat section of its app. GE plans to make Instacart ordering and same-day delivery available within the recipes on the LCD touchscreen of many of its smart appliances, including several models of ovens and cooking ranges. GE customers also will be able to shop the ingredients needed for custom recipes they create with the company’s Flavorly AI recipe generator.

“By investing in new technologies and forging innovative collaborations, we are bringing untapped value to our consumers,” said Shawn Stover, VP of SmartHome and Energy Solutions at GE Appliances in a statement. “Our goal is to help expand cooking confidence, reduce food waste and create a seamless cooking journey for our consumers. Joining the Instacart Developer Platform unlocks exciting new possibilities, both on our products and inside of our SmartHQ consumer app.”

As the IDP program develops, third-party companies will be able to unlock:

• Same-day fulfillment of over 1 billion unique products in as fast as 30 minutes from 85,000 stores across more than 1,500 national, regional and local retail banners;
• Access to Instacart’s item catalog, which includes attributes like ingredients and nutrition information and product sizes; and
• Real-time understanding of what’s on store shelves at customers’ favorite local retailers.

The first version of the Instacart Development Platform is live today and the company is now accepting partner applications. Additional launch partners that will be rolling out IDP-based experiences in the coming months include Biocoach, DinnerTime, Eatlove, eMeals, Foodsmart,  Innit, Intent, Jow, Jupiter, Maple, North Fork, Relish and Smart Commerce. In the months ahead, Instacart said it plans to work with these and other partners to power even more experiences and help them integrate with the Instacart platform in new ways.