Partner messaging guidelines

This document outlines guidelines for developer partners who have integrated with the Instacart Developer Platform and want to communicate their integration publicly. These guidelines ensure that you maintain consistent messaging, use trademarks properly, and align with Instacart's brand standards.

Prerequisites

You must obtain proper approval before discussing your Instacart Developer Platform integration publicly.

1. In order to discuss your integration with the Instacart Developer Platform publicly, your Instacart Developer Platform integration must be submitted for review and fully approved by Instacart’s team.
2. Once it has been approved, all communications and messaging about the integration needs to comply with the guidance in this document, as well as any instructions provided in such approval.
3. All communications need to be submitted for approval to the Instacart team with at least five business days for review (across Legal, Communications, and Disclosures).

Sharing Instacart-specific stats - Any communications and corresponding materials should not include stats from Instacart unless explicitly approved by Instacart in writing or mentioned below.

Messaging guidelines

Follow these specific requirements when creating any public communications about your Instacart Developer Platform integration.

Approved messages

• Do note that you are integrating with the Instacart Developer Platform.
• Do leverage the following messaging as the foundation for any communications:
  • We are excited to announce we’re integrating with Instacart via their Instacart Developer Platform to bring XYZ value to customers.
  • Instacart, the leading grocery technology company in North America, works with grocers and retailers to transform how people shop. The company partners with more than 1,800 national, regional, and local retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from nearly 100,000 stores across North America on the Instacart Marketplace.
• If media contact you about this integration, flag to press@instacart.com prior to responding or engaging. Instacart Communications will coordinate with you to identify the best engagement strategy.

Unapproved messages

• Do not refer to Instacart as your “Partner” or the relationship as a “Partnership”.
• Do not use Instacart’s press release boiler plate in any announcements or press releases or position your integration as a joint announcement.
• Do not disparage Instacart, other integration partners or Instacart partners.
• Do not represent a position of your company as Instacart’s position.

Content requirements

Content must reflect positively on Instacart and be consistent with Instacart's brand standards and values. Content should also comply with any content guidelines issued by the platform(s) where the content will be posted.The following apply:

• Content should be directed to adults, not minors.
• Content may not disparage Instacart or any other person, party, product, or brand.
• Content may not include claims that compare Instacart to any third-party product, service, or brand unless explicitly approved by Instacart.
• Content may not co-brand, use multiple brands or otherwise advertise, market or promote such Content in a manner that implies any association with, or endorsement by, any other third-party product, service or brand without prior approval from Instacart.
• Content may not suggest or encourage underage or excessive consumption of age-restricted products.
• Content may not include health claims made about the products.
• Content may not include "green", "eco-friendly", or similar claims of that nature.
• Content may not include any political content or materials.
• Content may not contain materials that are, or may reasonably be considered to be, hate speech, or promotes bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability (including food allergies), sexual orientation or age.
• Content may not contain material (e.g., images, audio, text) that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene, hateful, tortious, defamatory, slanderous, libelous, offensive, lewd, or violent.
• Content may not violate or infringe any rights of any other party, including but not limited to copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or any other intellectual property rights; i.e., do not use or reference any third-party materials, including but not limited to logos, music, videos, images of celebrities, tagging third-parties, unless you have permission from the third parties that own the rights to those materials to do so for the specific use.
• Content may not contain any material that is unlawful, in violation of or contrary to the laws or regulations of the United States or of any jurisdiction where content is created.
• Content may not contain information known by Influencer to be false, inaccurate or misleading.
• Content may not contain material or content for which Influencer has been compensated or granted any consideration by any third party other than Instacart.

Delivery speed

• When referring to delivery times, use:
  • "Delivery in as fast as one hour."
  • "Delivery in as fast as [Instacart-designated time period]."

"Free" and "Free Delivery"

• Do not use "Free Delivery" in any communications. Instead, use approved alternatives such as:
  • "$0 Delivery Fee."
  • "No Delivery Fee."
• You must always include "Service fees apply." as a disclaimer using an asterisk mark. The size and placement of this disclaimer must be approved by Instacart.
• Additional requirements typically apply, such as minimum order amounts, exclusions, and eligibility criteria. Always consult with Instacart for approved claims, offer wording, and terms and conditions, including any Instacart+ related claims.

Content guidelines

Instacart is a technology company that provides, among other things, a platform that connects customers wanting to purchase goods, with retailers who sell goods, and personal shoppers who deliver the goods. Instacart is not a grocery store, grocery delivery company or a grocery delivery service; Instacart does not deliver groceries (third-party shoppers are the individuals who are delivering the groceries).

These additional guidelines are not inclusive or exhaustive and are subject to change at the discretion of Instacart.

Correct	Incorrect
Delivery via Instacart	Instacart grocery delivery
Delivery through Instacart	Instacart delivers
Instacart helps to deliver	Delivery by Instacart
Instacart enables delivery	Instacart delivery
Instacart can help with _	Instacart shops for you
Get delivery...	Instacart does the shopping
Get your favorites delivered...

Instacart trademark usage guidelines

The following trademark usage guidelines were designed to preserve the integrity and distinctiveness of the Maplebear Inc. d/b/a Instacart (“Instacart”) portfolio of trademarks, service marks, trade names, and trade dress identified in Schedule 1 (collectively, the “Trademarks” and individually, a “Trademark”). Instacart’s Trademarks, whether registered or unregistered, must be used in accordance with these Trademark Usage Guidelines. In following these guidelines, you help us protect our valuable trademark rights and strengthen our brand identities.

By using Instacart’s Trademarks, you are acknowledging that Instacart is the sole owner of the Trademarks and are agreeing not to interfere with Instacart’s rights in the Trademarks, including challenging Instacart’s use, registration of, or application to register such trademarks alone or in combination with other words, anywhere in the word. You further agree that you will not harm, misuse, or bring into disrepute any Instacart’s Trademark, or file for any trademark, domain name, social media handle, or other designation for Instacart’s Trademarks. The goodwill derived from using any part of an Instacart Trademark exclusively inures to the benefit of and belongs to Instacart.

• Applicability of guidelines. These guidelines apply to Instacart’s customers, licensees, consultants, outside vendors, and other third parties that do not otherwise have an agreement governing their use of an Instacart Trademark. If you are a licensee of a Trademark, follow the special trademark usage guidelines contained in the license to the extent that it differs from these guidelines.
• Use of Instacart’s trademarks. When referring to Instacart’s products or services by their associated trademark, the reference should be truthful, fair, and not misleading, and must comply with these Trademark Usage Guidelines. These guidelines are subject to change at the sole discretion of Instacart.

Acceptable trademark uses

All uses permitted by these guidelines are subject to these limitations unless you have received express written approval from the Instacart marketing and legal teams, which must specifically reference these guidelines.

1. Proper and Consistent Stylization. Any use of the Trademarks must appear in the specific form, stylization, color, and proportions shown in Schedule 1 unless you have received express written approval from the Instacart marketing and legal teams for an alternative usage, which must specifically reference these guidelines. For the avoidance of doubt, you may not:

   • Shorten or abbreviate the Trademarks.
   • Create new marks based on or including the Trademarks, e.g., with other words, symbols, numbers, or graphics.
   • Modify the color, typeface, capitalization, stylization, or proportions of the Trademarks as they are shown in Schedule 1.
   • Translate any English or foreign-language words that appear within or comprise a Trademark.

2. Adjectives. You should only use the Trademarks in the form of an adjective that modifies an accompanying noun, such as a generic product or service name. In other words, you may not use any of the Trademarks as a noun or a verb, and you may not use any of the Trademarks in the possessive or plural forms.

Correct	Incorrect
We are launching a new version of the INSTACART® app.	Delivery via INSTACART®.
[Retailer] is on the INSTACART® service.	[Retailer] is on INSTACART®.

An exception to this arises in situations where you use the term “Instacart” as a company or trade name. In that event, the term “Instacart” may serve as a noun, but you should make it clear that the term is used as a company name, and not as a trademark, which may include using the full company name (e.g., “Maplebear Inc. d/b/a Instacart”).

Additionally, there may be situations where you use a Trademark as a standalone brand, which may occur with marks that are:

• In stylized format (i.e., a graphic logo).
• A slogan. In that event, it may be impractical or undesirable to add a noun after the trademark.

For instance, the Instacart website may feature a picture of the Instacart Carrot logo on the page in reference to its e-commerce platform. You do not need to add “e-commerce platform” or “app” after the logo. However, in the absence of written permission from the Instacart marketing and legal teams stating otherwise, these “standalone uses” should only occur on a website, social media page, or approved marketing/promotional materials, and only if it is: (a) clearly distinguishable from any surrounding text or graphics that are not part of the trademark at issue, which may include the use of capital letters (if permitted), underlining, bolding, or italics; and (b) the use is solely for purposes of promoting or referencing Instacart or its goods/services.

1. Notice symbols. Whenever you use a Trademark, you must include an appropriate trademark notice symbol, which may be either:
   • ™ for unregistered trademarks.
   • ® for registered trademarks. The ® symbol is for trademarks and service marks that are registered with a governmental authority in the Country where the mark will be used. For instance, materials that are distributed within the United States may use the ® symbol if the mark is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, but if those same materials are distributed in countries where the mark is not registered, they must be modified to show the ™ or SM symbol before being distributed.

When used, the notice symbols should be in superscript (e.g., ® or TM), but if superscript symbols are not available or cannot be used, the appropriate trademark notice symbols should be in parentheses: (R), (TM), (SM).

4. Attribution and ownership. Any usage of the Trademarks must include a proprietary notice statement that properly acknowledges Instacart’s ownership of the Trademarks. For instance, an appropriate proprietary rights notice should always be included at the end of a press release.
   • Sample Notice in U.S.:
     • Registered Mark(s). “[Specify Trademarks] are the registered trademarks of Maplebear Inc. d/b/a Instacart. Instacart may not be available in all zip or post codes. See Instacart Terms of Service for more details.”
     • Unregistered Mark(s). “[Specify Trademarks] are trademarks of Maplebear Inc. d/b/a Instacart. Instacart may not be available in all zip or post codes. See Instacart Terms of Service for more details.”
   • Sample Notice outside of U.S.:
     • If Registered Mark(s) in the U.S. “[Specify Trademarks] are trademarks of Maplebear Inc. d/b/a Instacart, registered in the U.S. and other countries and regions. Instacart may not be available in all zip or post codes. See Instacart Terms of Service for more details.”
     • Unregistered Mark(s).“[Specify Trademarks] are trademarks of Maplebear Inc. d/b/a Instacart. Instacart may not be available in all zip or post codes. See Instacart Terms of Service for more details.”
5. Quality Control. You must not tamper with or alter any products, product packaging, or promotional materials you receive from Instacart and must maintain them in the condition they were in when you received them (ordinary wear and tear excepted in appropriate cases).
   • Any images of Instacart products you use in promotional materials or online must depict the products fully and accurately, and may not be altered in any way.
   • You must not remove or alter in any manner the trademark designations, other written matter or graphical designations on the products supplied by Instacart to you, or the packaging thereof.
   • You recognize the reputation of Instacart as a provider of high quality goods and services, and agree to continue to maintain the same high standard of quality with respect to the distribution and/or promotion of such goods and services.
   • Upon written request from Instacart and upon reasonable notice, you will allow Instacart to inspect your premises where any Instacart products, packaging, or promotional materials are maintained, and/or you will provide Instacart with representative samples of such materials.

Advertising and marketing guidelines

Instacart may, on a case-by-case basis, permit the use of the Trademarks like INSTACART or the Instacart Carrot logo , for instance, to indicate that we are participating in certain groups, organizations, or events. If you wish to request use of such marks, please contact us as noted below. Without express written permission, you may not use any Trademarks in a way that expresses or implies that suggests an association, affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement, approval, certification or other connection with any third-party product, service, website, or company.

1. No Third-Party Endorsements without Approval.
   • Do not use any Trademarks with any third-party goods, services, or programs, or in any other way that would suggest an association, affiliation, connection, sponsorship, or endorsement of the third party without express written approval.
2. Do not use a Trademark in advertising that may be inaccurate, false, or misleading.
3. Do not use a Trademark in a negative or disparaging manner.

tip

For more information or for any questions, contact:

Edison Lin

Senior Director & Associate General Counsel, Intellectual Property Maplebear Inc. d/b/a Instacart

Schedule 1 trademark guidelines

Contact Instacart marketing regarding the style criteria (e.g., typeface, approved color(s), minimum size, and/or other criteria) for these marks prior to usage.

For more information, see Instacart’s brand guidelines.

Arrow (black)

Carrot (black)

Logo (black)

Alternate logo (black)

Arrow (color)

Carrot (color)

Logo (color)

Schedule 2 logo guidelines

Contact Instacart marketing regarding the style criteria (e.g., typeface, approved color(s), minimum size, and/or other criteria) for these marks prior to usage.

Minimum logo size

The Instacart logo should not be scaled below the following values:

• On screen. 14px.
• In print. 0.25 in.

Logo colors

The Instacart logo can only be used on white, cashew, or dark kale backgrounds. For more information, see Instacart colors.

Instacart logo (light background)

Instacart logo (dark background)

Clearspace

This diagram shows the formula for creating the minimum margins around the Instacart logo.

Incorrect logo usage

The following examples are incorrect ussages of Instacarts trademarks and logos.