LEAD DESIGNER • BROWSE EXPERIENCE

there are two types of shoppers

those who search to buy & those that browse to familiarize themselves with the platform.

browse-based shoppers are broad. most are typically new to our platform & looking to understand what we offer. they are quick to decide if our service is useful to them. others are power-users looking for ideas & inspo.

Sparking inspiration

the browse experience aims to address a spectrum of shoppers. within this range, the ability to spark inspiration was powerful & equally additive to new & seasoned shoppers.

inspiration has range- it could be special product deals, instacart express up-sells, featured in-season recipes, & even curated shopping lists.

instacart is a marketplace

it is store-agnostic & a growing marketplace, customers can shop from multiple retailers at once. this is a clear value prop for many busy households & offices who use the service frequently.

achieving a store-agnostic experience meant deep architectural considerations for the way we work. previously, customers had to specify a store and then begin shopping; in this new experience they are free to switch stores and browse across all stores.

give customers agency

browse-based shoppers like to interact with everything because they are in a state of curiosity & exploration.

we recognized this and wanted to give them agency- if they search for vegetables, we show them vegetables across all our stores. we make it that easy to shop on our service.

if they see something they like…

we provide a low-friction modal about the item. it’s lightweight, there’s no pressure, we give more detail within the same context. this builds trust & makes online shopping easy.

customers, retailers, & value

understandably retailers may not want their pricing & results to sit beside another retailer. but the reality is shoppers comparison shop irl today. Showing this info upfront builds trust & ultimately challenges retailers to also work hard to build customer value & trust as well.

so again, if a customer is shopping for apples, we show apples across all our stores because we believe that this is of material value to the customer experience.