Consolidation in e-commerce platforms: Instacart acquires Unata

The acquisition of Toronto based startup, Unata by Instacart, the American organization has the ability to revolutionize the world of online grocery shopping.

About Instacart

Founded in 2012, Instacart gets your groceries delivered from the local stores to the customer’s doorsteps. They offer thousands of products to the customers and same-day delivery has been their USP. They also offer unbelievable deals and discounts to their customers. Customers select groceries through a web application from various retailers and delivered by a personal shopper.

About Unata 

Unata, for a very long time, has been on a mission to relentlessly simplify and personalize the grocery shopping experience. A key part of their mission is to help their retail partners meet the needs of the modern shopper. They do this in three ways: (1) A large portion of their innovation roadmap is reserved for retailer requested features; (2) They host an annual retailer share group about how to succeed in digital; and (3) They’re true innovation partners, continuously integrating the newest technologies into our offering and providing no-cost upgrades to our partners. They’re constantly working towards building the best digital experience for both, the retailers and the shoppers.

The Acquisition 

Instacart CEO, Apoorva Mittal says, “Instacart’s mission has always been to be an independent partner to retailers and enable them to give their customers the best experiences using the best technology. This acquisition allows us to take that commitment to the next level. It represents a landmark win for retailers, who will benefit from Instacart’s scale, Unata’s highly configurable technology, and the deep grocery industry integrations this acquisition will enable.”

Instacart expanded from 30 to 190 stores alone in 2017 and this collaboration would aid the tremendous growth this year and for the years to come. Even though Unata’s headquarter’s will remain in Toronto, and its name and brand would also stay the same, the avant-gardists in unison would help bricks and mortar retailers compete in the rapid online environment.