Instacart Caters To Content Creators With New Shoppable Recipes

Online grocery platform Instacart is adding a new product integration feature that allows content creators on social media to link their recipes directly to grocery items within the app, the company announced last week.

Dubbed Shoppable Recipes, the new feature is now available on TikTok and Tasty. When the viewer clicks the “see recipe” button in a post, they have the option of being directed to the set of ingredients and shop for in-stock or similar items, if necessary. Shoppable Recipes will also be available across Hearst Magazines’ properties including Delish, and Good Housekeeping, among others.

Though third-party e-commerce app integrations are not a novel concept for social media platforms, Instacart’s new feature enables quick action on the consumer side and increased organic engagement with brands especially on platforms driven by user-generated content like TikTok.

“By making popular recipes from destinations like TikTok and Hearst Magazines’ Delish easily shoppable in a few taps, we’re helping people put that passion [for food] into action by picking up a few items from their favorite local store so they can create exciting new meals” said Asha Sharma, COO of Instacart, in a press release. “​​We’re expanding our touchpoints beyond the weekly grocery shop or late-night cravings, and meeting people when food inspiration strikes and they want to discover new meals and cooking experiences.”

The feature is powered by TikTok’s Jump program which aims at allowing creators to “extend the TikTok experience into real-world action.” Instacart said it will eventually make Shoppable Recipe available to additional TikTok creators and the online retailer already has an existing partnership with Hearst and other popular publishers promoting recipes through its own in-app “Recipes” tab.

According to the company, the new feature caters to a growing consumer demand for more engaging shopping experiences while also capitalizing on the trend of “creator-generated commerce.” A spokesperson for the company said the inspiration behind the new feature was to meet consumers at their moment of inspiration and serve them what they need to efficiently make it a reality.

While the new feature can be used for brand-exclusive recipes, it relies on a specific product being available in a store local to the viewer, making it tougher for a brand with narrow distribution to accomplish wide-spread impact. However, when a product enters a new region or expands nationally, this feature could be used as a platform to educate consumers on use occasions and as a mode to product discovery.

In the early days of the pandemic, one of the most notable viral recipes was South Korean-inspired Dalgona “whipped” coffee. As was reported by Bloomberg at the time of the whipped coffee craze, instant coffee sales spiked with market research firm Mintel stating there was a “massive rise” in demand for the ingredient in addition to food and beverage company Nestlé SA noted it saw a significant uptick in instant coffee sales as well.

Although the pandemic initially sent the majority of grocery shoppers online, market research firm Acosta reports that online grocery sales are expected to hold pace beyond pandemic-related reasons. The new app integration also comes at a time when retailers including Kroger have found consumers are prioritizing at-home cooking “powered by” convenience while also looking to embrace flavors and food experiences.

“We’ve been hard at work over the past year, innovating our app to evolve the consumer experience from a transactional grocery shopping task that needs to be done every week, to a more personalized, affordable, and inspirational activity,” said an Instacart spokesperson. “People want to be inspired, discover products for a specific diet, plan their meals, and then purchase and have products show up at their door. Part of that involves helping people turn recipe inspiration into action, and that’s what Shoppable Recipes is all about.”