Fulfillment options
Fulfillment options are the methods that you can use to get orders to your customers. The fulfillment options you implement depend on whether your customers want the order delivered or want to pick up the order. The options also depend on whether you want to use your existing picking technology or want a shopper to pick the order using the Instacart Shopper app.
Instacart supports the following fulfillment options:
Delivery
The customer wants the order delivered. A shopper uses the Instacart Shopper app while picking the ordered items for the customer and then delivers the order. The customer receives order status notifications and shopper communications. Use this fulfillment option for full-service delivery. For more information, see Delivery user journey.
Pickup
The customer wants to pick up the order. A shopper uses the Instacart Shopper app while picking the ordered items for the customer. The customer receives order status notifications and shopper communications. Use this fulfillment option for full-service pickup or partner-pick pickup. For more information, see Pickup user journey.
Last mile delivery
The customer wants the order delivered. A retailer employee picks the order using the retailer’s existing picking technology. When the order is ready, the retailer stages the order. A shopper picks up and delivers the order. Use this option for delivery only.
A last mile delivery implementation enables you to show and hold time slot availability for a period of time. This leads to a better customer experience and less disappointment for your customers because you show them available time slots based on estimated capacity.
This implementation requires multiple endpoints to find stores offering last mile delivery, create a Connect user account, validate the customer’s address, list time slots, reserve a time slot, and then create a last mile delivery order. For more information, see Last mile delivery user journey.
For a simpler implementation, implement dispatch last mile delivery instead.
Dispatch last mile delivery
The customer wants the order delivered. A retailer employee picks the order using the retailer’s existing picking technology. When the order is ready, the retailer stages the order. A shopper picks up and delivers the order. Use this option for delivery only.
If you're integrating with multiple third-party fulfillment providers, Instacart recommends implementing dispatch last mile delivery. This implementation option enables you to find stores near your customer and then create orders for your desired delivery windows.
When you request to create an order, Instacart validates the customer address, store location, and fulfillment capacity. If validations pass, Instacart creates the order. If validations fail, Instacart returns errors. For example, the request fails if the customer provides an invalid address. Your site can prompt your customers to correct the information and then try to create the order again. If Instacart cannot fulfill the order, Instacart cancels the order and sends the canceled callback.
Instead of failing order creation when there isn't capacity to fulfill the order, 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.
For more information, see Dispatch last mile delivery user journey.