Collections

Collections are products that are grouped together under a specific theme or category. There are predefined collections and retailer collections.

Predefined collections (also known as Instacart collections) are collections created by Instacart that are generally applicable to a particular line of business. For example, Fresh Fruits is a predefined collection that contains products such as apples, oranges, and bananas. These products are generally available at most grocery retailers.

Retailer collections are created by you, the retailer, and contain the products that you define. You can use retailer collections to advertise seasonal promotions, inspire customers to purchase new products outside of their regular shopping list, and help customers start building their cart. For example, you can create a Cinco de Mayo collection with products that customers might serve at a Cinco de Mayo celebration.

The following image shows a Cinco De Mayo collection that was added to a content page:

Collection types

There are two types of collections, static and dynamic.

Static collections

You manually curate a list of products to include in the collection. For example, you can create a New Years collection and add specific cuts of deli meats and types of cheeses. You can also define the order in which the products appear in a static collection.

For more information, see Create a collection and Rank products in a static collection.

Dynamic collections

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This capability is available for retailers who have migrated to the enhanced collections tooling. For more information, see Configuration.

You create rules that dynamically display products that satisfy the conditions. When product attributes change, the dynamic collections are updated automatically. For example, you can create a Weekly deals collection to include products that are on sale. Then, whenever products go on sale or go back to regular price, the collection automatically updates.

You can create dynamic collections based on the following rules:

• Price. Add products based on a price range. Pricing rules use the values in the cost_price_per_unit column of your catalog inventory files. Promotional pricing, such as discounts and sale, is not considered.

• Categories. Add products that belong to a specific category. A category is a product attribute that helps organize and classify items that share common characteristics or purposes, such as Blue cheese.

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  Instacart defines the list of categories and assigns your products to the appropriate categories.

• Item Attributes. Add products based on item attributes, such as products that are eligible for purchase with HSA/FSA accounts.

• Promotion Rules. Add products with complex offers, such as Buy M Get X Dollars Off.

• Custom Attributes. Add products based on custom tags (also known as custom attributes) that are provided in your catalog. For more information, see Product tags.

• EBT/SNAP Eligible. Add products that are eligible for purchase through the EBT/SNAP program.

• Store Brand. Add products from your private label store brand. A store brand is a brand that you own with products that are not sold by any other retailer. Ensure that you send your Instacart representative a comprehensive list of your store brands.

• Dietary Preferences. Add products based on dietary preferences, such as Vegan or Organic. Instacart defines the supported options.

• Max Age (Days). Add products based on when they were created in the catalog, such as products created within the last 10 days.

• Flyer. Add products that are in a weekly or monthly flyer.

• Has Promotion. Add discounted products, such as products that are on sale, products with loyalty pricing, or products that are eligible for special promotions (like buy-one-get-one-free).

• Retailer Department. (Storefront Pro 5) Add products based on retailer-defined departments, such as Organic Produce or Locally-Sourced. These departments must be defined in the catalog file to use this rule. For more information, see In-store product locations.

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  This capability is available with Storefront Pro 5.

For more information, see Create a collection.

No product availability or empty collections

Products that are not in stock for the customer’s current location or fulfillment method are hidden from the storefront. For example, store #1 has pineapples in stock but store #2 is sold out. A customer shopping for pick up at store #1 sees pineapples in the Fresh Fruits collection. A different customer shopping for pick up at store #2 does not see pineapples.

Also, entire collections can be hidden from the storefront if all products are unavailable to the customer. For example, you might have a dynamic collection that includes products that are on promotion for loyalty members only. The storefront will not show these collections to customers who are not enrolled in your loyalty program.

If you link to collections from emails or creatives, there is a risk of the customer not seeing products. In these situations, the storefront shows an empty collection with a Results Not Found message.

Configuration

To create and manage collections, use Instacart Platform Portal.

Instacart is in the process of migrating retailers to use the latest tools. Depending on your migration status, you have access to one of the following tools:

• For retailers who have migrated to the enhanced collections method, use the Catalog > Collections tool. You can create static and dynamic collections. For more information, see Manage collections.

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  If you have questions about when your site will be migrated, contact your Instacart representative.

  You can advertise your collections throughout your storefront in the following ways:

  • To add collections to the department menu, see Departments.
  • (Storefront Pro 5) To add collections to content pages or to your custom homepage, see Creatives.

• For retailers using the legacy retailer collections method, use the Merchandising > Retailer collections tool. You can create static collections and add them to the department menu. For more information, see Manage retailer collections.