Study: 'Instacart Effect' Created Tens Of Thousands Of New Jobs, Hundreds Of Millions In New Revenue

Online grocery same-day delivery and pickup platform Instacart helped the grocery industry create 23,000 new jobs and $620 million in incremental revenue across just four states, according to a study by Dr. Robert Kulick of NERA Economic Consulting.

What Happened

Instacart's online platform helps to create jobs when it enters a local market and helped generate a full 4% increase in retail grocery employment in California, Illinois, New York, and Washington, Instacart said in a press release. Dubbed the "Instacart effect," the online company serves as an "economic complement to grocery store employment."

The grocery retail industry accounts for 17% of all retail employment and generates 13% of total retail sales.

"Instacart is changing the way customers engage with grocery stores by creating a complementary online service that would be prohibitively expensive for traditional retailers to offer on their own," Kulick wrote. "The result is increased grocery demand, which translates into higher grocery store employment and revenue."

Why It's Important

Instacart helped create new jobs in grocery stores, like cashiers, stocking associates, among others, according to the study. But, Instacart also helped create jobs that would not have otherwise existed if it didn't enter the market.

Instacart President Nilam Ganenthriran commented in the press release that the nearly $1 trillion grocery industry is now only going through its "first big wave of tech innovation." Instacart's goal since day one was to "lift up our brick and mortar grocery partners" to better give retailers a competitive advantage in a crowded space.

As more grocers turn to online platforms like Instacart to better compete, the study provides "statistical evidence that the partnerships are helping with retailers' overall growth."

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Photo by nrd on Unsplash