Continued Support for the Shopper Community
As the COVID-19 situation evolves, we remain committed to the health and safety of the shopper community. Each shopper who is out picking and delivering for customers is doing a valuable service for the millions of families who are relying on us more than ever. Since this crisis began, we’ve looked for proactive ways to ensure that you are all kept safe. Today, we’re sharing some additional updates on ways we’re continuing to support the health and safety of the entire shopper community.
In-App Wellness Checks
To help make it easier for you to monitor your health during this time, all shoppers will soon have access to a daily, in-app wellness check. This check will help you determine if you have any COVID-19 related symptoms, and give you guidance on what to do next if you have symptoms. Before shopping, the in-app wellness check will ask you questions about how you are feeling. If you have no symptoms, you can start shopping as usual. If you indicate you aren’t feeling well, you will be directed to contact your healthcare provider and refrain from shopping until you feel better. This is another way we’re ensuring the health of the shopper community is first and foremost, and helping keep the entire Instacart community safe during this time.
Continuing Extended Pay Until End of COVID-19 Crisis
As we announced when this crisis began, we’re offering up to 14 days of pay for any full-service shopper or part-time employee — including in-store shopper, shift lead, site manager, or Instacart Care agent — who is diagnosed with COVID-19 or placed in individual mandatory isolation or quarantine, as directed by a local, state, or public health authority. We’re extending this financial assistance and making it available for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis to ensure that the shopper community continues to be supported.
Extending Bonuses for ISS Until End of COVID-19 Crisis
We’ve introduced a bonus payment for in-store shoppers, shift leads, and site managers working during this time to help meet customer demand for grocery delivery and pickup. These bonuses were initially offered for hours worked through April 15. We’re now extending these bonuses for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis to make sure our in-store teams continue to be supported. Bonuses will continue to be determined based on the numbers of hours worked, and will range from $25 to $200 monthly.
Easier Access to Health and Safety Kits
We’re continuing to provide personal protective equipment to all active shoppers, distributing tens of thousands of health and safety kits each week that include a face mask and hand sanitizer. These health and safety kits were sourced and developed with several third-party manufacturers, in consultation with medical and infectious disease experts. Starting today, you’ll be able to order a health and safety kit directly from your Shopper app dashboard, making it even easier to request your personal protective equipment.
Committed to the Shopper Community
These last few months have been the busiest in Instacart’s history, and we’re incredibly grateful to the shopper community for continuing to help meet the needs of customers across the platform. One month ago, we shared our plans to bring on 300,000 additional full-service shoppers to help us meet increased customer demand we’ve seen. We quickly met that goal, and are now planning to bring on an additional 250,000 full-service shoppers in an effort to get back to same-day delivery across our platform. We’ll be focused specifically on the areas with the highest demand right now, including regions in California, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C. and Toronto. In places where we have enough shoppers to meet customer demand, we’re reintroducing wait lists for prospective shoppers, to make sure we’re thoughtfully balancing the number of shoppers we bring on in each region with customer demand in that area.
Throughout all of this, our primary goal continues to be the health and safety of our entire community. We’re working closely with public health officials and retail partners to make sure we’re taking the appropriate precautionary measures to help shoppers safely deliver groceries for families across North America, and we’ll continue to provide shoppers with updates that ensure a safe and reliable experience for you. Thank you for being a part of our community.
