2026_09_0 Release Notes

Release date: September 29, 2026

The release notes describe changes to Instacart Storefront for this release, including new features and enhancements. In addition to these changes, Instacart continually updates the platform to improve accessibility, performance, and stability and to ensure the best user experience for your customers.

Are you using the partner-pick model? Review the Shopper App release notes for recent updates.

New features

The following new features are available in this release.

Store-level Direct Pay connections in Stripe associations

You can now connect a Stripe Direct Pay account at the individual store level in Instacart Platform Portal. This is useful if your stores each hold their own bank account, such as in a franchise model, because it lets Direct Pay funds route to the correct store's Stripe account instead of a single banner-level account.

Previously, Direct Pay could only be connected at the banner level, covering all of a banner's stores with one account. Alcohol and Pharmacy connections already supported this store-level option; Direct Pay now matches.

Instacart has also improved the button text in the Stripe associations tool for clarity.

With this release, Instacart has turned off reusing Stripe Connected accounts for legal and compliance reasons. Specifically, for alcohol and prescription (Rx) accounts, store locations owned by different legal entities may not share the same Stripe Connected account. If you have store locations that belong to the same entity and want to share an account, contact your Instacart representative.

For more information, see Connect to Stripe.

Segment library

The Segment library in Instacart Platform Portal is a new, redesigned home for the audiences you use to target campaigns. It replaces the previous Segments experience and brings your CSV-uploaded segments, saved rule sets, and API segments together in one page, where you can search for a segment by name and filter the list by segment type or status.

New descriptive upload statuses tell you whether a CSV upload succeeded. A Failed status means none of the entries matched. A Partial success status means some entries matched and some didn't, so you know the health of your list without contacting support.

If you have a loyalty or membership program, you can now upload a list of member IDs to create a targeting segment, in the same way you upload email address lists. Member ID uploads are available to eligible retailers.

To protect customer data, uploaded email address and member ID lists can't be viewed or downloaded, and Instacart automatically deletes uploaded lists after 45 days. Your existing segments carry over to the Segment library automatically.

To find out whether member ID uploads are available for your storefront, contact your Instacart representative.

For more information, see Create a segment.

View attribute information sources

You can now view the data source for key product attributes using Instacart Platform Portal. Your inventory file provides the foundation of your product catalog, and by design, Instacart integrates data from other sources to ensure that the product information displayed on your storefront is accurate, consistent, and aligned with regulatory and industry standards. The new attribute details pane shows the value displayed on your storefront, the source it came from, and the values you provided for the attribute. This feature currently applies to products displayed on your Instacart Marketplace storefront.

The attribute details pane has two sections:

• Storefront value. The value that's displayed on your storefront, the source it came from, and when the product was last updated.
• Provided values. The values you provided for the attribute, from your catalog inventory file or an edit in Instacart Platform Portal. Each entry shows the value, the source it came from, and when that source last updated the value.

Compare the two sections to see which source is responsible when a value on your storefront differs from what you provided.

For more information, see View attribute information sources.

Enhancements

The following enhancements are available in this release.

Improved order issue reporting

Customers now use a single, consistent flow to report a problem with an order. The flow guides customers to select which items had issues, choose the type of issue, and answer follow-up questions, so each report includes the detail needed to resolve it.

Previously, customers could submit incomplete reports, and some were resolved through email. Now, support handles reports that need more information in a live chat session, so customers reach a resolution faster.

For more information, see After fulfillment.

Fee rewards available with any distribution channel

When you create a Storefront campaign with a fee reward, all five fee options are now available regardless of which distribution channels you select. You can pair any fee reward ($0 pickup or delivery fee, $0 pickup fee, $0 delivery fee, $0 priority fee, or $0 service fee) with on-site placements, email, push, a coupon code, or a direct link.

Previously, fee reward availability depended on the distribution channel. Campaigns that included email or push could offer only the $0 delivery fee.

For more information, see Create a minimum spend offer on baskets.

Phone number masking in chat and notifications

Phone numbers in shopper and customer chat, push notifications, and SMS for Storefront orders are now masked. Shoppers and customers see [phone number hidden] in place of the other person's number, which helps protect privacy during fulfillment and reduce the risk of account takeover attacks. This extends the masking already available for Marketplace orders.