Instacart unveils discovery tools for retailers, emerging brands
Instacart is unveiling new discovery tools that leverage Instacart's grocery insights to reimagine how brands showcase their products to retailers.
Instacart's new digital sell sheets enable emerging brands on the platform to easily showcase the best of their product catalog to Instacart's network of over 1,400 retail banners. With Brand Explorer, Instacart's retail partners can now easily search and discover these sell sheets, connecting with new products and up-and-coming brands directly in the Instacart Platform Portal. This enables retailers to make smarter decisions when looking for new products to stock their shelves, better serving their customers while helping emerging brands grow in-store distribution.
"We know that driving distribution in more stores is a significant challenge for emerging brands," said Chris Rogers, chief business officer at Instacart. "They're working hard to break into a crowded industry, from attending trade shows to cold-calling retailers. Meanwhile, retail category teams are sifting through thousands of new products to find the right fit for their business and customers."
[Read more: Instacart updates omnichannel, AI solutions for grocers]
Rogers continued, "The process is still fairly manual and time-consuming for everyone involved. Instacart is well positioned to connect innovative brands with retailers looking to expand their selection, empowering everyone with easy-to-access insights directly within Instacart's self-serve technology. Today's announcement furthers our investment in emerging brands' success, and our commitment to streamline grocery operations for retailers online and in-store."
Retail category managers are always on the hunt for brands that are taking on the latest category trends in order to keep their selection fresh and compelling for customers. Powered by Instacart's unique first-party data and insights, Brand Explorer now allows retailers to easily search, discover and connect with hundreds of innovative emerging brands on the platform, Instacart said.
Retailers can:
- Browse sell sheets and brand profile pages to discover products on the cutting edge of consumer trends;
- Filter their search for categories and brands that match trends, metrics and assortment gaps;
- Understand product attributes, pricing and sales performance in one, easy-to-navigate tool; and
- Access brand contact information to establish direct relationships with brands through Instacart's platform.
Instacart's new sell sheets are designed primarily with emerging brands' particular challenges in mind, helping them showcase their success, and what sets them apart, in order to grow in-store distribution. Connecting with retail category managers to share insights that prove their products are a strong addition to store shelves is an essential part of the brand growth journey. Instacart's reimagined sell sheets allow brands to easily and automatically showcase their products - including platform sales data, product information and key growth insights - directly in Ads Manager.
[Read more: Instacart, Mount Sinai Solutions launch grocery benefit to support patients after hospital]
The announcement builds on Instacart's commitment to help emerging brands drive omnichannel growth. Earlier this year, Instacart announced a new integration enabling growing brands using Shopify to easily connect to Instacart Ads products and insights. Instacart also has previously worked to streamline Ads Manager's design so that advertisers, including emerging brands and their agencies, can simply choose an objective to get tailored, optimized recommendations for the ad formats, targeting and bidding options to reach their business goals.