Instacart had been growing continuously since 2012, leading the grocery technology space in the US and Canada and making waves as a rising star of Silicon Valley. Then the pandemic transformed the delivery space overnight. As shopping suddenly went more online than ever, Instacart faced a rising tide of competition. The business needed to evolve—and the brand needed to set the pace. By harnessing the emotional impact that delivery makes in people’s lives, we helped Instacart expand its reach beyond groceries into the wider world of delivery services. 

An ethos for evolution 

We started by rallying the organisation around a single ethos of 'Shop+Savor', capturing how Instacart powers your shopping, so you can savor all of life. Shop+Savor speaks to Instacart’s commitment to product innovation and the emotional value its service adds to people’s lives—empowering the brand to go beyond its roots in grocery and connect users to a much wider range of products and retailers. 

From that brand foundation, we developed a visual identity in close collaboration with Instacart’s leadership, brand team and creative studio. The identity echoes the rich duality of Shop+Savor, from the appetising typography to the transformation of the beloved Instacart carrot into a dynamic symbol. The streamlined carrot top doubles as an arrow, showing that your cart (like Instacart itself) is for more than just food. 

Inspiring reach and resonance 

Together with Instacart, we helped build a brand that could stretch, flex, and resonate more for both customers and team members—upleveling the role that Instacart played in people’s lives from transactional to inspirational. 

Instacart successfully implemented this new identity in 2022, energising internal teams around the Shop+Savor ethos and inspiring how new offerings come to market. Today, the brand’s reach includes 1,100+ retail banners and nearly 6,000 CPG brands. Remarkably, Instacart saw a double-digit percentage increase in new site visits in the month after the rebrand launch compared to the month prior, and a 153% increase in online mentions.

“[The design system] exceeded all of our expectations,” said Laura Jones, Instacart CMO. “It embodies our brand today—setting us apart as vivid, craveable, and dynamic—and reflects our aspirations for the future. This will help cement our position as the go-to grocery technology platform that consumers leverage for all of their shopping needs across fresh food, convenience, home improvement, cosmetics, and beyond.”

Beyond the design system, we helped Instacart build their first-ever creative team in a previously product-only organisation, supported them in launching and branding the future of their business in Instacart platform, and also branded their Instacart+ membership offering. 

Within 12 months of launch, our work was featured in 30+ publications—and was named 2022’s #1 Icon and Logo Evolution by Brand New. The work has also been recognised by the Clio Awards, Type Directors Club, Fast Company, ADC, One Show Awards, GD USA, and D&AD (notably awarded with a prestigious Yellow Pencil).