Dispatch last mile delivery user journey

Instacart Connect seamlessly powers same-day delivery on retailer-owned e-commerce sites. The dispatch last mile delivery end-to-end user journey shows an example of a customer using a retailer site to create an order for dispatch last mile delivery. A retailer employee shops the order and stages it for delivery by a shopper.

If you're integrating with multiple third-party fulfillment providers, this implementation enables you to quickly add Instacart's last mile delivery capabilities to your e-commerce site.

The journey highlights the key transitions from the customer point of view:

1. Start shopping
2. Begin the checkout process
3. Choose a delivery time slot
4. Review and place the order
5. Receive the delivery

You'll see the following tabs at each transition:

• Journey tab. Describes what happens during this step for the customer and the retailer site.
• API tab. Lists the endpoint methods or events that can be used at this point in the workflow.
• Retailer options tab. Lists some workflow decisions a retailer makes before implementing a solution.

Start shopping

Journey

1. The customer visits the retailer e-commerce site.
2. The customer selects delivery.
3. The customer enters their postal code and gets a list of store locations that offer last mile delivery.
4. The customer selects a store location. The store location determines what inventory is available in the catalog.
5. The customer fills their cart.

API

(Optional) You can use the following endpoint at this point in the workflow:

• Find stores offering dispatch last mile delivery

Retailer options

• A retailer site can find stores by postal code or by latitude and longitude. For best performance, use postal codes. It can take a little longer to find stores by latitude and longitude.
• A retailer site can allow the customer to pick a store or it can determine the fulfillment store based on proximity or some other factor.
• A retailer site can show available time slots to the customer before they start shopping. When the retailer creates the order, Instacart validates the time slot. If there's capacity to fulfill the order, Instacart creates the order for the selected time slot. If there's no capacity, Instacart can substitute your desired window with the soonest alternative on the same day. You can enable this fallback support when you send a request to create an order.

Begin the checkout process

Journey

1. (Optional) The customer logs in to their retailer customer account.
2. (Optional) The retailer site creates a Connect user account for this customer that can be used by Instacart. When you create a Connect user account, you assign a user ID to the customer. This enables you to use other optional endpoints, such as updating a tip.
3. If the cart contains alcohol, the retailer site prompts for the customer's date of birth. The customer must be old enough to legally purchase alcohol in their region.

API

(Optional) You can use the following endpoints at this point in the workflow:

• Create a Connect user account and validate an address

Retailer options

• The Connect user account provides a layer of separation between the retailer's customer account and Instacart. Only the details required to fulfill the order are sent to Instacart.
• A retailer site can ask customers if they have an Instacart+ membership. If so, the site can invite the customer to link their Connect user account to their Instacart account. For more information, see Account linking.
• For carts with alcohol, it is the retailer's responsibility to ensure that alcohol type, alcohol quantity, and the age of the customer are in compliance with regional laws. For alcohol delivery, retailers must also ensure that the city and county of the store and customer match. The best practice is to tell customers what to expect when their alcohol is delivered. For more information, see Alcohol compliance.
• Addresses are validated when the order is created, but you can choose to create a Connect user account and validate the address early in the workflow.

Choose a delivery time slot

Journey

1. The customer sees a list of available time slots.
2. The customer selects a time slot.

API

You don’t use any endpoints at this point in the workflow.

Retailer options

• The retailer site displays the time slots to customers. The retailer is responsible for the time slots displayed.
• The retailer site requests to create an order and sends the selected time slot as a desired window. Instacart validates the selected time slot.

Review and place the order

Journey

1. The customer reviews and validates their order and delivery address.
2. The retailer site prompts for other order fulfillment information, including:
   • Confirmation to leave the delivery unattended. Default is false.
   • (Optional) Special instructions.
   • Tip amount.
3. The retailer site notifies the customer that they are automatically subscribed to SMS communications. This enables status notifications to be sent to the customer.
4. The retailer site prompts for payment and preauthorizes the order total.
5. The retailer site creates the order. It can take several seconds to receive order confirmation from Instacart.
6. Instacart validates the customer address, store location, and fulfillment capacity. If validations pass, Instacart creates the order. If validations fail, Instacart cancels the order and sends a canceled callback. If there’s no capacity to fulfill the order, Instacart creates the order at the soonest alternative on the same day.

API

You can use the following endpoint at this point in the workflow:

• Create a dispatch last mile delivery order

Retailer options

• The retailer site handles all payments and might preauthorize the order total or immediately charge it. The order total might change if items are replaced or refunded during the shopping process.
• The retailer site might also conduct fraud checks at this point.

Receive the delivery

Journey

1. A retailer employee shops for the order and places the bags in a staging area. The retailer site sets the order status to staged.
2. A shopper picks up the order and delivers it to the customer.
3. If the order contains alcohol, the customer presents identification that includes their date of birth. For more information, see Alcohol compliance.
4. The retailer site receives the delivered callback.
5. The retailer site processes the payment for the order total including tip.
6. If the customer wants to adjust their tip, the customer has up to 2 hours to decrease their tip and up to 14 days to increase their tip.
7. The customer provides feedback on the order.

API

You can use the following endpoint at this point in the workflow:

• Update a tip

Retailer options

• The retailer site manages all payments and the retailer can choose when to process payments.
• The retailer site manages all post-delivery communications, such as collecting ratings from the customer.