Instacart, the grocery aggregator, has recently announced its plans to offer more discounting and price-focused features as consumers increasingly cut back on grocery spending amid inflation. The new features include a “Stores to Help You Save” section, enabling customers to find lower-priced retailers, targeted sale offers based on previous purchases, discounts for larger purchases, and more. In a blog post announcing the offers, Instacart stated, “We know rising grocery prices won’t go away overnight – so we will continue to introduce new ways to save in the Instacart app over the coming months.”

Instacart’s move to offer price-focused promotions is timely, given the results of a study by PYMNTS, which found that high prices or a lack of benefits and deals were the primary factors influencing 54% of consumers who are purchasing fewer day-to-day products at the grocery store. Furthermore, the 2023 Global Digital Shopping Index: U.S. Edition report by PYMNTS showed that 39% of consumers considered coupon usage to be very or extremely important when choosing merchants. Grocers understand the necessity to offer discounts to retain customers, as 74% of grocers think that consumers would be very or extremely likely to switch merchants if digital coupons and rewards were not provided, according to a study by PYMNTS in collaboration with ACI Worldwide.

Retail technology company Swiftly’s co-founder and CTO, Sean Turner, highlighted how inflation is prompting consumers to switch merchants, with shoppers comparing prices across different stores and looking for discounts and coupons. Grocery giants, such as Kroger and Tesco, are leveraging consumer data to offer personalized discounts and coupons to retain customers while maintaining their margins.

Instacart’s move to add more discounting and price-focused features is a smart business strategy to retain customers amid rising grocery prices. As consumers seek deals and discounts, grocers need to offer personalized and targeted promotions to retain customers in this increasingly competitive market.