Delivering Delight with Impulse — a New Way to Reach Consumers

Instacart recreates the checkout aisle online with new option for sponsored product ads

What do you think of as an impulse purchase? Is it grabbing your favorite candy bar from the checkout aisle after hunting down everything you need for that big extended family dinner — because inviting everyone over means everyone so a little bit of joy in between errands seems well-deserved. Or maybe it’s being reminded just in time that you need a pack of batteries. Because if you can’t get your toddler’s robot-dinosaur-from-space toy to roar again tonight before bedtime, there’s going to be a scene.

For many of us, an impulse buy is when you grab something you didn’t know you needed or wanted until you saw it. And it’s usually not that expensive; an add-on to your shop that you pick up right at the end.

Often, the impulse buy is clutch.

It’s that little moment of joy when you decide to treat yourself. Or it’s that time you’re saved a return trip because what you really needed but forgot was right there in the checkout aisle. Perusing the items on offer at the checkout aisle is part of the shopping experience. Even if we don’t always buy something, we’d notice if they were gone.

Instacart has already helped to bring grocery shopping online by recreating the aisles, departments, and shelves of your favorite retailers online. And our ad products help brands secure premium placements on those digital shelves. So it should be no surprise that we’ve also recreated the checkout aisle online, providing brands the chance to generate impulse buys while delivering moments of delight to consumers with a time-saving find or an affordable treat. 

What is impulse?

Impulse for sponsored product ads is a new solution brands can use to boost sales of single-unit UPCs with a low price in new impulse placements on Instacart. Just like the checkout aisle in brick and mortar stores, the opportunity here is to advertise items consumers might want to buy on impulse as they’re completing their checkout. Items must be under $7 to be eligible. Think a single beverage, rather than a case of twenty-four. Or a single-serving snack like pretzels, veggie chips, a chocolate bar or chewing gum. 

Impulse for sponsored product ads provides a chance to get your low-price, single-unit products in front of consumers. Because of the low price point, you were likely not advertising these products on Instacart before — or if you were, you were regularly outbid. 

But now with impulse for sponsored product ads you can get access to exclusive impulse-dedicated placements outside of the highly competitive general sponsored product auctions. 

Here you’ll only be competing with other low-price products. And when you win placements, your products are shown to consumers during checkout and other times when they are more inclined to an impulse mindset. 

Impulse can also help you reach new audiences by capturing consumers’ attention at key impulse moments during their shopping journey; go from awareness to trial with just one click! 

“We were interested in capturing the attention of consumers when they were more open to an impulse purchase and getting access to exclusive placements gave us a chance to stand out. Given the success we had during this pilot, we are excited to continue promoting our products with impulse.” Jane Prior, CMO, The Vita Coco Company

How does it work? 

You can enable impulse on any ad group by selecting the new Optimize for impulse purchases toggle in Ads Manager. When enabled, products priced under $7 in the ad group participate in auctions for purpose-built impulse placements throughout a user’s shopping experience on Instacart.

While you can enable this for products from any category, you’ll see better performance advertising products which fit the impulse or last-minute purchase mindset. Treats, drinks, hand sanitizer, batteries, and other products of that nature will likely sell better in purpose-built impulse placements. 

Ready to start?

Impulse for sponsored product ads is ready for use now for any of your products priced under $7. Reach out to your Instacart representative if you have questions or log in to ads.instacart.com and configure ads groups with the new option enabled!

Instacart

Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,400 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 80,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.