SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, about us and our industry that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including statements regarding our future results of operations or financial condition, business strategy, and plans and objectives of management for future operations are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “toward,” “will,” or “would,” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the following:
•our expectations regarding our financial performance, including revenue, cost of revenue, gross profit, operating expenses, net income, and key metrics such as gross transaction value (“GTV”) and orders, and our ability to maintain or increase future profitability and generate profitable growth over time;
•macroeconomic and industry trends, including the impact of inflation, rising interest rates, the effects of supply chain challenges, the cessation of government aid, and geopolitical conflicts;
•our ability to effectively manage our growth and plan for and execute growth strategies and initiatives;
•anticipated trends, growth rates, and challenges in our financial performance, key metrics, and business and in the markets in which we operate;
•our ability to attract new customers and shoppers and maintain and/or increase engagement of customers and shoppers;
•our ability to expand our offerings to existing or new retailers, customers, and brands and whether retailers and advertisers launch or utilize our offerings in the manner and timing that we expect;
•our ability to maintain and expand our relationships with retailers and brands and the effects of retailer consolidation;
•our ability to continue to grow across our current markets and expand into new markets;
•the effects of increased competition in our markets and our ability to successfully compete with companies that are currently in, or may in the future enter, the markets in which we operate;
•our estimated market opportunity;
•our ability to timely and effectively scale and adapt our offerings;
•our ability to continue to innovate and enhance our offerings;
•our ability to develop new offerings, features, and use cases and bring them to market in a timely manner, and whether current and prospective retailers, customers, brands, and shoppers will adopt these new products, offerings, features, and use cases;
•the subsiding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its variants, or the impact of future public health crises;
•our ability to maintain the safety, security, and availability of our platform;
•our ability to maintain, protect, and enhance our brand and intellectual property;
•our ability to identify and complete acquisitions that complement and expand the functionality of Instacart and our offerings;
•our prices and pricing methodologies and our expectations for the impact of pricing on our competitive position and our financial results;
•our ability to successfully defend litigation and government proceedings brought against us, including with respect to our relationship with shoppers, and the potential impact on our business operations and financial performance if we are not successful;
•our ability to comply or remain in compliance with laws and regulations that currently apply or become applicable to our business in the United States and internationally;
•our reliance on key personnel and our ability to attract, maintain, and retain management and skilled personnel, including in light of our workforce restructuring in February 2024;
•our expectations concerning relationships with third parties;
•our expectations regarding our share repurchase program; and
•the increased expenses associated with being a public company.
We caution you that the foregoing list may not contain all of the forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
You should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We have based the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K primarily on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. The outcome of the events described in these forward-looking statements is subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors described in the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The results, events, and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur, and actual results, events, or circumstances could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.
In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. While we believe such information provides a reasonable basis for these statements, such information may be limited or incomplete. Our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain, and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely on these statements.
The forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or to reflect new information, actual results, revised expectations or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.
Unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “we,” “us,” “our,” “our company,” and “Instacart” refer to Maplebear Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.
PART I
Item 1. Business
OVERVIEW
Instacart is powering the future of grocery through technology. We partner with retailers to help them successfully navigate the digital transformation of their businesses.
Instacart was founded in 2012 to bring the grocery industry online and help make grocery shopping effortless. We started by understanding what consumers want and then built enterprise-grade technologies that allow retailers to meet those needs. We want to enable any retailer, large or small, to drive success both online and in-store and serve their customers better in all of the ways they choose to shop. As of December 31, 2023, more than 1,500 national, regional, and local retail banners partner with Instacart. We have demonstrated our ability to help our retail partners drive strong growth and stay competitive in a complex and increasingly digital industry.
Instacart invented a new model for online grocery shopping by offering consumers on-demand delivery from the stores they know and trust. Retailers reach customers through both Instacart Marketplace, where customers can shop from their favorite retailers through our app or website, and retailers’ owned and operated online storefronts that are powered by Instacart Enterprise Platform, our end-to-end technology solution encompassing eCommerce, fulfillment, Connected Stores, ads and marketing, and insights.
When shopping for groceries, consumers want selection, quality, value, and convenience, and they shop in many different ways. Instacart started as a way for households to conveniently manage their weekly grocery shopping, a recurring and high order value consumer use case. Today, customers can place orders for delivery or pickup across a variety of use cases including the weekly shop, bulk stock-up, convenience, and special occasions. Customers can select the fulfillment option and speed that best serve their needs. For example, a busy parent may prefer the reliability of having their family’s groceries delivered every Sunday, but if they need a few items in the middle of the week, they can trust Instacart to help deliver the items they need with priority delivery (as fast as 30 minutes). Each order can be shopped for and delivered with care by one of the hundreds of thousands of shoppers who value the flexible earnings opportunities that Instacart provides.
As consumers and retailers move online, brands can use Instacart Ads as a new way to reach customers at the point of purchase and within minutes of delivery and consumption. As of December 31, 2023, more than 5,500 brands are using Instacart Ads and are now more easily discoverable as customers fill their digital carts. Instacart Ads offers brands a highly measurable ads offering that leverages first-party transaction data to move products off of store shelves more efficiently.
Instacart is built for the entire grocery ecosystem, improving the experiences for each of our constituents and helping them succeed:
•Retailers. We enable more than 1,500 retail banners to grow by providing technology that can accelerate the digital transformation of their entire business.
•Customers. As of December 31, 2023, we reach over 95% of households in North America, and help our customers shop at their favorite retailers and enjoy selection, quality, value, and convenience. Our membership program, Instacart+, offers expanded customer benefits including unlimited free delivery on orders over a certain size, a reduced service fee, credit back on eligible pickup orders, and exclusive benefits.
•Brands. We represent one of the largest and fast growing eCommerce channels for brands. We provide discovery and attractive ROI for over 5,500 brands through our industry-leading advertising tools and insights purpose-built for the online grocery category. We estimate that on average, our ads deliver more than a 15% incremental sales lift, and in some cases twice that, for our brand partners.(1)
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(1) Based on internal tests run across all brand partners using our Sponsored Product ads offering in the year ended December 31, 2023 and individual tests run for select brands or types of brands.
•Shoppers. As of December 31, 2023, we offer approximately 600,000 shoppers an immediate, flexible earnings opportunity that allows them to choose when and how much to work.(2) Shoppers are deeply valued members of the Instacart community, and we strive to make the shopping experience as seamless as possible and protect shoppers while they work.
INSTACART TECHNOLOGY
We built Instacart to serve the entire grocery ecosystem. The key pillars of our technology are Instacart Marketplace, Instacart Enterprise Platform, and Instacart Ads. Our solutions are underpinned by a shared foundation of technology, infrastructure, data insights, and fulfillment that leverages our scale and expertise specific to the grocery category. Our technology solutions are better together. Since our founding, Instacart has powered more than one billion orders. This scale gives us unique insights into consumer buying behavior, needs, and trends across the entire grocery industry in North America. We then utilize these insights to enhance Instacart Enterprise Platform, ensuring retailers can best meet their customers’ needs across their owned and operated online and physical storefronts. Similarly, Instacart Enterprise Platform enhances Instacart Marketplace, as our deep integration with retailers allows us to expand marketplace capabilities for our customers.