Instacart signs deal with Albertsons

Instacart has inked a deal with Albertsons to offer same-day delivery from the grocery store chain.

The deal will include 1,800 of Albertsons stores across the country by mid-2018, helping Instacart deliver on its promise to be available in 80 percent of markets across the U.S. by the end of 2018.

This isn’t Albertsons first foray into the tech space. Earlier this year, the company introduced same-day delivery as well as Drive-up & Go, and Albertsons also acquired meal-kit company Plated for $200 million in September.

The Instacart deal will be complimentary to Albertsons’ existing same-day delivery.

While the Amazon/Whole Foods deal surely poses a challenge for Instacart, the merger also presents an opportunity. With one of the world’s biggest ecommerce giants focusing squarely on groceries, incumbent grocers across the country are being forced to keep pace and offer online shopping and delivery. In many cases, that means turning to Instacart to offer customers an online shopping portal and hand-to-hand delivery.

Here’s what Instacart CEO Apoorva Metha had to say in a prepared statement:

Families across the nation trust and rely on Albertsons Companies’ stores for their fresh groceries and everyday essentials. We couldn’t be more excited to work with the company’s legendary brands from coast-to-coast to offer customers a new convenient, time-saving option for shopping at their neighborhood store.

Albertsons is the third-largest grocery retailer in North America behind Walmart and Kroger’s. Instacart has signed on the top six grocers in NA with the exception of Walmart, which is testing its own delivery that would give delivery people access to your home to leave goods in the fridge.