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Instacart delves into big-ticket retail with Best Buy

Certified Delivery part of same-day service from 1,000 stores

Russell Redman

November 20, 2020

3 Min Read
Best_Buy_curbside_pickup.jpg
Instacart's partnership with Best Buy marks its latest foray outside the retail grocery arena.Best Buy

Online grocery delivery giant Instacart has continued its expansion beyond food retail through a partnership with consumer electronics chain Best Buy.

San Francisco-based Instacart said this week that it offers same-day delivery of electronics and other technology products — including laptops, televisions, home office essentials, headphones, tablets, gaming, smartwatches, streaming media players, small appliances and other items — from nearly all of Best Buy’s 1,000-plus stores in 50 states and the District of Columbia.

With the addition of Best Buy to its retail partner base, Instacart introduced Certified Delivery, a new feature designed to give customers and personal shoppers an easier way to track and confirm the delivery big-ticket items. Through Certified Delivery, Best Buy customers must acknowledge receipt of high-value products by signing for them upon delivery directly in the Instacart mobile app, which Instacart said ensures a “seamless hand-off from the store to their door.”

Certified Delivery also gives customers access to a larger selection of high-value items not previously available for same-day delivery via Instacart, such as top-end wireless and noise cancelling headphones, wearable technology and smart home devices, the company said.

Related:Instacart bags $200 million in latest financing round

To get Instacart delivery, Best Buy U.S. customers go online to instacart.com/best-buy or select Best Buy’s storefront in the Instacart app and enter their ZIP code to choose their local store. They then can begin adding products to their virtual cart. After checkout, an Instacart shopper delivers the order within the designated time frame, which can be the same day or scheduled in advance.

“This year, we’ve expanded our offering with new and existing partners in order to provide even more selection and value to customers. As people settle into remote work and distance learning routines, we’ve seen increased demand for the same-day delivery of electronics on our marketplace,” Chris Rogers, vice president of retail at Instacart, said in a statement. “We’re proud to partner with Best Buy, the largest consumer electronics retailer in the U.S., to offer customers across the country a new way to get the technology products they need delivered same-day. Whether it’s a new computer monitor for a home office, a smartwatch to track activity or a new slow cooker for the kitchen, we want to provide more ways for people to get the goods they need as quickly and safely as possible.”

For Instacart, the Best Buy partnership marks its latest foray outside the retail grocery arena. In September, Instacart unveiled a deal with Sephora to bring same-day delivery to most of the prestige beauty retailer’s more than 500 stores in the U.S. and Canada and entered the convenience store arena through a same-day delivery partnership with 7-Eleven.

Related:Instacart goes outside grocery again with Sephora partnership

Previously, Instacart entered markets such as off-price/closeout retail with Big Lots, office retail with Staples U.S. and Canada, vitamins and supplements retail with Vitamin Shoppe and prescription delivery with Costco Wholesale. Instacart also delivers household decor from Walmart, pet care supplies from Petco, and over-the-counter medicines and health care products from CVS Pharmacy and Rite Aid. And within the grocery space, Instacart has expanded to include delivery of alcohol, deli and meal orders, as well as on-demand delivery and other services for independent grocers via partnerships with C&S Wholesale Grocers and United Natural Foods Inc. (through the former Supervalu).

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About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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