Instacart changes its personal shoppers' status

Grocery delivery service Instacart is allowing more of its personal shoppers the ability to switch from contractor to employee status.

A release on Marketwired describes that a pilot around this concept took place in Boston, and is now expanding to other cities. Having part-time employees in Boston enhanced the quality and efficiency of order picking and the overall customer experience, said Instacart founder and CEO, Apoorva Mehta.

Giving personal shoppers the option to gain employee status (rather than remain contractors) means they will be provided with supervision and training when it comes to expertly selecting and delivering grocery items to customers from local stores.

Instacart recently made another change to its business model to improve efficiency. Its shopper and driver roles have now been divided so that the in-store shoppers that pick the orders no longer deliver them (that role is now handled solely by drivers).

Now in 16 U.S. cities, Instacart was founded in 2012 in San Francisco. It works with both large national grocers and regional players to deliver fresh food in as quick as one hour.

Read the full release here.