Instacart enters the "shoppable content" battle royale

Welcome to the “shoppable content” battle royale, where companies like TikTok, Pinterest, Twitter, and even Wish compete for users’ taps. Now, grocery-delivery company Instacart is entering the ring, hoping to deliver on social content with its new product—Shoppable Recipes—which lets content creators link to Instacart shopping lists in their food videos across platforms like TikTok.

Select TikTokers like @IamTabithaBrown, @SamanthaLiving, and @SweatSpace were given the keys to start using the Shoppable Recipe function yesterday. Viewers can tap on a button to add ingredients from their favorite creator’s glazed salmon recipe to their Instacart carts.

• The integration comes after CEO Fidji Simo teased a “digital transformation” with “more inspiration” in recent months.
• It also marks Instacart’s new partnership with Hearst Magazines’s food properties. Shoppable Recipes will live in content across sites for Delish, The Pioneer Woman, Good Housekeeping, and Country Living.

While Instacart is just another contender in a crowded field and a little late to the party, the company hopes it can set itself apart as the tap-to-eat shoppable food destination.

Tap in: Shoppable Recipes are a bid to engage consumers “beyond the weekly grocery shop,” Instacart’s COO Asha Sharma said in a statement. The company wants to capitalize on that not-so-secret social sauce—made with discovery and entertainment.

Proof in the pudding: Instacart’s “Year in Groceries” December report showed how social media trends impact grocery purchases. Out of 2,000+ surveyed US adults, 44% attempted recipes they saw on social media in 2021.

• Jenni Häyrinen’s “baked feta pasta” recipe led to a 106% surge in Instacart orders for the dish’s top ingredients the week when the TikTok trend peaked, versus the week prior.—JG