Billing and budgets for promotion groups
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Retailer Promotions use a redemption-based billing model — you are charged only when a customer successfully redeems your promotion at checkout and the order is delivered. You are charged the savings amount per redemption only. This page explains how charges are calculated, how billing works, and how to manage your total budget.
How billing works
Each time a customer redeems your promotion on a delivered order, you are charged the savings amount extended to that customer:
| Charge component | Description |
|---|---|
| Savings amount | The savings amount extended to customers for each delivered redemption. For Dollar off basket, this charge is the fixed dollar amount. For Percent off basket, this charge is the percentage of the qualifying basket total, up to the maximum discount amount if one is set. |
| Maximum discount amount (Percent off only) | An optional dollar cap on the savings amount per redemption. For example, a 15% savings amount with a $20 maximum means a customer spending $200 receives $20 off, not $30. |
Charges are based on final delivered order amounts, not the initial order value. If a customer's delivered order falls below the minimum amount due to item substitutions or removals, the promotion may not apply and you will not be charged for that redemption.
Billing cycle
Charges for Retailer Promotions are calculated monthly and invoiced based on your retailer advertising agreement with Instacart. Your invoice reflects all redemptions from the calendar month, typically sent within the first two weeks of the following month.
You can view accrued spend at any time in the Ads Manager reporting view — spend data is updated daily and reflects charges incurred to date.
Total budget
Every Retailer Promotion requires a total budget — the maximum total amount Instacart will charge you for that promotion. When the total budget is reached, the promotion automatically stops serving.
- You can increase the total budget at any time from the promotion edit screen.
- You cannot decrease the total budget below the amount already spent.
- There is no daily budget option for Retailer Promotions — the total budget controls total spend across the full promotion period.
Budget planning guidance:
- Dollar off: Estimated spend = Expected redemptions × Savings amount
- Percent off: Estimated spend = Expected redemptions × (Average qualifying basket × Savings % up to Maximum discount amount)
Build in a 10–15% buffer to account for higher-than-expected redemption volumes.
Overspend protection
Instacart monitors promotion spend in real time and stops serving new promotions when the total budget is reached. However, minor overspend may occur due to redemptions that were in flight at the time the budget limit was hit — typically representing one to a few additional redemptions.
If overspend occurs, Instacart will work with you to resolve it in accordance with your retailer advertising agreement. Contact your Instacart representative if you have questions about an unexpected overspend.
Monitoring spend
You can monitor your promotion spend at any time from the Ads Manager Promotion groups page. The Spend column shows how much of your total budget has been used for each promotion.
To view a detailed spend breakdown:
-
Click the promotion name in the Promotion groups page.
-
Review the Spend metric on the promotion detail page.
Spend is updated daily and reflects all charges incurred through the previous day.
- Click Export to download spend data as a CSV for deeper analysis.
If you expect your promotion to be approaching its budget limit, increase the total budget before it exhausts to avoid an unplanned pause in promotion serving. Once the budget is exhausted, the promotion automatically moves to Budget exhausted status and stops serving. The promotion cannot be reactivated — you will need to create a new promotion.