Celebrating Excellence in Independent Grocery: Meet Instacart’s 2024 Award Winners

Every day, local independent grocers work hard to bring their communities the best possible shopping experience. This February, Instacart’s Local Independent Grocery team recognized outstanding retailers who went above and beyond in 2024, finding innovative ways to blend traditional service with new technology to better serve their customers.

From small town markets to regional favorites, this year’s winners showed that grocery can embrace the digital age while also making the experience personalized. Local independent grocers are bringing customers new ways to shop – whether that’s through AI-powered smart carts that make in-store trips easier or online ordering that saves time – all with the goal of helping customers save money.

“Our independent grocery partners continue to lead the way in retail innovation,” said Nick Nickitas, General Manager, Local Independent Grocery at Instacart. “From Caper Carts transforming the in-store experience to creative digital strategies driving customer engagement, this year’s award winners showcase how local retailers are using technology to enhance what they do best – serving their communities. These grocers aren’t just adopting new solutions, they’re setting new standards for what’s possible in grocery retail while maintaining the personal touch that their customers love.”

🏆Partnership Excellence Award

For outstanding adoption of Instacart’s omnichannel solutions

• Davis Food & Drug (Utah): First to fully embrace Caper Carts with dedicated staff support and innovative marketing, making smart shopping carts an integral part of their customer experience.
• Neiman’s Family Market (Michigan): Created a seamless shopping experience by combining personalized recommendations, expanded digital offerings, and strategic technology adoption.

🏆Performance Excellence Award

Outstanding sales performance and growth

• Stauffers of Kissel Hill (Pennsylvania): Demonstrated exceptional sales performance, proving independent grocers can thrive in competitive markets.
• Super 1 Foods Northwest (Washington, Montana, and Idaho): Successfully scaled their digital presence while maintaining quality across all locations.

🏆Outstanding Marketing and Guest Experience

Setting new standards in marketing and customer engagement

• Geissler’s Supermarkets (Connecticut and Massachusetts): Transformed the shopping experience across all seven locations with Caper Carts, offering customers personalized recommendations, automatic coupon clipping, and an interactive experience integrated with their loyalty program. This rollout represents one of the largest technology deployments by an independent grocer in 2024, showing how local retailers can lead the industry in innovation.

🏆Excellence in Customer Retention

Exceptional success in building customer loyalty

• Macey’s (Utah): Created a winning strategy combining store fulfillment, digital coupons, and creative online-only deals to keep customers engaged.
• Lowe’s Market (West Texas, South Texas, New Mexico: Expanded to 56 new digital locations, Lowe’s Market partnered with Instacart to optimize their website, driving more traffic to their Instacart Storefront while maintaining their signature personal service.

🏆New Local Retailer of the Year

Outstanding achievement in first-year partnership

• Busch’s Fresh Food Market (Michigan): Made an impressive Instacart debut with outstanding customer feedback and dedication to operational excellence.

From smart carts to personalized digital experiences, these award winners are writing the next chapter in grocery retail, reinforcing their commitment to the communities they serve. Please join us in celebrating their achievements at the upcoming NGA Show (Booth #2013), where they’ll be recognized alongside their industry peers.

Instacart

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Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,500 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 85,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.