Instacart says no-markup retailers grow 10 points faster. Eight chains have dropped them

Retailers that sell on Instacart at the same prices they charge in store are growing roughly 10 percentage points faster than those that add a markup. Chief executive Chris Rogers gave the figure at the Groceryshop conference in Las Vegas this month, and said the company added new customers at its fastest rate since 2022.

Eight chains now sell at shelf prices on the platform

PYMNTS lists the retailers running without item markups: Grocery Outlet, Strack & Van Til, Super King Markets, Ace Hardware, Calgary Co-op, Tractor Supply Company and World Market. The list mixes grocery with hardware and homeware, which says something about who is willing to give up the margin. A markup on the item price is invisible to most shoppers, and that is exactly why it became standard.

Rogers puts the growth gap at about 10 percentage points

The claim comes from Instacart and has not been audited outside the company. It is also a comparison between retailers, not a before-and-after measure at the same retailer. Still, the direction is consistent with what Rogers told investors in August, when he said no-markup retailers drive faster growth and stronger customer retention.

Second-quarter revenue and order value both rose 14%

Instacart reported on 6 August that gross transaction value and total revenue each grew 14% year on year. The company is trying to turn delivery from an occasional purchase into a weekly habit, and price is the lever it has chosen. Instacart Plus now offers delivery at no charge on orders from ten dollars.

Instacart runs 380 retailer websites behind the scenes

The platform powers 380 retailer ecommerce sites, so the pricing argument reaches beyond the Instacart app itself. The company has been adding software on the same base, including a white-label AI shopping assistant for retailers. Advertising sits alongside that, which is where the margin lost on item prices may come back, as it has for retailers sharing shopper audiences through Google Ads.

Shoppers on a tight budget gain, because the shelf price is the price. Instacart gains volume and a larger base to sell advertising against. The retailers giving up the markup are the ones carrying the cost, and they will keep doing it only while the 10-point growth gap holds.