Instacart announced today that it’s introducing a revamped customer ratings system that is designed to be more informative and fair for shoppers on its platform. The company will now remove a rating if it’s from a customer who consistently rates their shoppers below five stars. Instacart is also going to forgive more ratings for reasons that may be outside of a shopper’s control.
Shoppers will now also just need to maintain a 4.7 or above rating to get prioritization for “batches,” which is a term Instacart uses to describe delivery jobs that include more than one order at a specific store. Prior to this change, the prioritization of batches was based on having the highest rating possible. Instacart notes that a few low ratings shouldn’t have a significant impact on a shopper’s access to batches.
In addition to the revamped customer rating system, Instacart is rolling out new features for shoppers. The company is introducing a new “Your stats” screen that shows shoppers information about their account, including their average customer rating, customer feedback and statistics like how many orders they’ve completed. There’s also a new section within the Shopper app that will provide shoppers with information about batch accuracy, including details about items found, replacements and more. Instacart says a shopper’s accuracy information does not have an impact on their rating or access to batches, but can provide additional insights.
Shoppers will also now be notified when they are close enough to a store location to see available batches. When a shopper enters a store’s designated vicinity, they’ll be notified that they are ideally situated and if they can expect to see batches from this retail location in the near future. Shoppers may also see other recommended store locations nearby that have higher batch availability.
Lastly, Instacart will now solicit batch-level feedback after each batch shoppers complete. Shoppers can share if they had an issue with a customer and would no longer like to be paired with them in the future. If a shopper had a rude customer, they can choose to block them.
These new features come a month after Instacart rolled out a tip protection service to give its shoppers more reliable access to their tips. The protection sees Instacart protect shoppers from customers who remove a tip without reporting an issue with an order. Instacart says it will cover the amount of the zeroed-out tip up to $10.
In March, the company introduced in-store navigation, live phone support and a safety toolkit for shoppers on its platform. The new in-app navigation feature gives shoppers an interactive map of the grocery store that they’re shopping in, and the new safety toolkit gives shoppers access to tools such as in-app emergency calling, incident reporting and safety alerts within the Shopper app.