The health and safety of the entire Instacart community is always our top priority. We’ve made a number of health and safety updates related to COVID-19 (coronavirus) and introduced service options available on the Instacart platform.

Safely delivering your groceries and household essentials

We’re working closely with national and local authorities, as well as health and safety experts, to actively monitor national health situations and ensure we operate safely and with minimal disruption to service. We provide recommended Health and Safety Guidelines and have shared them with the shopper community to ensure they take the appropriate precautions to safely deliver your order.

Leave at My Door Delivery option

The Leave at My Door Delivery option gives you more flexibility in choosing how you receive groceries. Simply check the box for Leave at My Door Delivery at checkout. You can leave additional instructions for your shopper and receive a photo confirmation once your groceries have been delivered.

Supporting the shopper community

We introduced a number of guidelines, resources, and investments to further support the health and safety of all Instacart shoppers. These include updated health and safety guidelines and a sick pay policy for all in-store shoppers nationwide.

Saying thank you to your shopper

The Instacart shopper community serves as household heroes for families nationwide. When you order, please consider tipping above and beyond to reflect the extra effort of your shopper during this busy time.

Health and safety impacts

When large-scale, national events happen, mass purchasing heavily impacts the grocery industry. To help us better respond, Instacart put some additional measures in place—

  • Low-stock mode for more retailers
  • Tighter availability
    • Some products—such as hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, rice, water, and cold medicine—may be running low. Instacart continuously updates availability to ensure you’re notified of any order changes or updates in real-time. 
  • Item purchase limit
    • Some of Instacart’s retail partners have put item purchase limits in place for certain products on the marketplace. Attempting to add more than the purchase limit for these items automatically resets the selection to the maximum limit and lets you know you’ve exceeded the purchase limit.

For the latest information on precautions you can take, please visit the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website for the U.S. or the Government of Canada website for Canada.