Instacart Plus delivery service lets you add a buddy so you can shop together

Instacart has given its Express delivery subscription service a facelift and is relaunching it as Instacart Plus as the platform continues to renovate.

InstacartPlus is currently rolling out (opens in new tab) and will add two new “family-centric” features while also migrating over the money discounts people got from Instacart Express. First, there will be new Family Accounts for members to add one other person from their household at no extra cost. According to an Instacart representative, you can’t pay extra to add someone else.

And Family Carts allow both people in an account to put all the food they want into a single shopping cart. The representative clarifies you can add as much as you want into a single cart so feel free to stock up on Oreos.

Members can still enjoy the “free delivery on orders over $35” and the five percent credit return on eligible Pickup orders, which were all a part of the Express. And if you’re a member of Delta SkyMiles, you can still get those free airline miles. Just be aware that alcohol is excluded from the credit back deal.

Apart from these, the other changes are small perks that are contingent on you being a Chase Bank customer. For example, if you own a Sapphire Reserve credit card from Chase, you can get the annual Instacart+ plan for free.

You can try out Instacart Plus as a part of a two-week trial if you live in either the US or Canada. After that, you’ll either have to pay $9.99 for the monthly plan or $99 for the annual plan.

Better protection

In addition to expanding its delivery service, Instacart has recently improved security for customers and employees alike.

Back in 2020, the company suffered a data leak that exposed the information of thousands of users. Nothing was hacked, Instead, it looks like some members and employees may have used the same login credentials across Instacart and other platforms.

To counter this, Instacart forced affected customers to reset their passwords and added new security measures (opens in new tab) for their Shoppers, which are their paid drivers. The measures included new authentication features like ID verification and adding the reCAPTCHA system.

Speaking of Shoppers, they also get some worker protections. Apparently, there was a problem with customers rescinding tips by reporting issues with the order even if it was fine. Now Instacart will reimburse (opens in new tab) these professional shoppers up to $10 for the loss. It’s really nice to see Instacart help out its employees like that.

If you’re interested in how Instacart stacks up against other grocery delivery services, TechRadar has compared the service to Amazon Fresh and Walmart Grocery.