After sharing shoppers for 4 years, Instacart is finally taking Whole Foods out if its cart by terminating its partnership with the all-natural grocer. After Amazon purchased Whole Foods last year, it was only a matter of time until Whole Foods would become exclusive.
But, in the year since Amazon put a ring on its supermarket soul mate, Instacart has shopped for new partners.
Turning the ’Cart around
Whole Foods signed a 5-year contract with Instacart in 2016, which should have preserved the partnership through 2021.
But after Amazon’s $13.7B acquisition, it became clear Instacart was no longer Whole Foods’ #1.
So Instacart, not happy being anyone’s side-service, started taking matters into its own carts.
A strong, independent service
In the last 18 months, Instacart added several grocery giants to its cart (Kroger, Sam’s Club, Walmart Canada) and raised $871m in new funding to ensure it can roll on its own 4 wheels.
Now, since Whole Foods stores account for only 76 of Instacart’s 15k grocery locations, Instacart’s revenue is expected to drop by less than 5%.
Instacart, which is valued at $7.6B, failed to announce the exact day that it would stop taking orders from Whole Foods. So, if you’re reading this — stock up on your Probiotic Kale-Turmeric Smoothies while you can!!!