Marketplace, Storefront, and Storefront Pro comparison
Instacart's enterprise ecosystem provides three distinct ecommerce site deployment models catering to different retailer sizes, technical capabilities, and brand strategies.
E-commerce site deployment models
Instacart Marketplace
The shared Instacart consumer marketplace app and web portal. It connects retailers to Instacart's broad customer base using standard catalog, fulfillment, and discovery algorithms, with Instacart managing the end-to-end customer experience.
Instacart Storefront
A turnkey, white-label ecommerce solution that enables single-banner grocers to quickly deploy brand-tailored websites and mobile apps under their own domain. Retailers can add loyalty capabilities and use promotional tools to re-engage customers. Features Instacart’s proprietary AI technology and native mobile architecture.
Instacart Storefront Pro
An enterprise-tier white-label platform designed for mid-to-large and multi-banner grocers. Storefront Pro delivers full UX control, data isolation, ready-to-launch Loyalty API integrations, enterprise point-of-sale (POS) injection, advanced content and creatives management, and shared retail media monetization. Features Instacart’s proprietary AI technology and native mobile architecture.
How to choose the right ecommerce site deployment model
Retailers often start with the Marketplace to enable early customer acquisition and then add Storefront or Storefront Pro based on their needs.
Use the following guide to help you decide which approach is right for you:
| Choose Marketplace if: | Choose Storefront if: | Choose Storefront Pro if: |
|---|---|---|
| Goal is maximizing consumer acquisition via existing Instacart shoppers | Need a branded white-label web and mobile experience quickly | Operating multiple regional banners under one corporate umbrella |
| Retailer has minimal in-house development or design resources | Standard catalog, ML homepage, and core fulfillment suffice | Requiring complete customer data isolation and single sign-on (SSO) and identity provider (IdP) integration |
| Standard Instacart fulfillment and fee structures are preferred | Turnkey launch is prioritized over bespoke layouts | Retail media revenue-sharing or removing third-party ads is required |
| Advanced enterprise POS and loyalty plumbing isn't required | Direct customer domain branding is required with minimal overhead | Complex integrations (FoodStorm catering, point-of-sale order injection, enterprise loyalty) are necessary |