Instacart Ads

Top-tier grocery-focused retail media network with significant scale in CPG advertising and white-label retail media technology for grocery banners

Instacart Ads (operated by Maplebear Inc., publicly traded as CART) is one of the largest and most sophisticated retail media networks in the grocery and CPG space. The platform enables consumer packaged goods brands to advertise directly to shoppers at the point of purchase intent, leveraging Instacart's rich first-party purchase data from millions of active grocery shoppers. Ad products span sponsored product listings, display advertising, shoppable video, and off-platform programmatic extensions, all tied to measurable sales outcomes. Instacart's retail media offering is uniquely positioned because it sits at the intersection of e-commerce, grocery delivery, and purchase data. Brands can target audiences based on actual purchase history, basket behavior, and category affinity — signals that are far more purchase-intent-rich than traditional digital advertising. The platform also powers retail media for over 1,400 retail banners through its Carrot Ads white-label solution, extending its technology to grocers like Kroger, Publix, and others who want to monetize their own digital properties. In the broader AdTech ecosystem, Instacart Ads competes directly with Amazon Advertising, Walmart Connect, and Kroger Precision Marketing as a closed-loop retail media network. Its advertising revenue has become a significant and high-margin contributor to Instacart's overall business, with the company reporting hundreds of millions in annual ad revenue. The platform's ability to close the loop between ad exposure and actual purchase — both on and off platform — makes it a compelling proposition for CPG advertisers seeking measurable ROI.