How does it work?
The feature is only available to select creators on TikTok for the time being but will eventually roll out to all food content creators. The shoppable recipe function is integrated into the app through the TikTok’s own tool, TikTok Jump.
Creators link Instacart grocery lists containing all the necessary ingredients to the recipe video or article in the case of publications like Delish. From there, viewers can order the ingredients through the Instacart app.
Platforms like TikTok have become go-to destinations for recipe inspiration for millions of people with seemingly endless recipes to choose from. “With nearly 60 billion views of the hashtag #FoodTikTok, the food community on TikTok is massive and highly engaged, and we’ve seen creators build global audiences by sharing their favorite recipes with our users in unique and creative ways”.
It’s this popularity that Instacart is hoping to capitalize on with their new feature.
Today’s consumers value convenience and seamless shopping experiences and this new update provides it.
Why does this collaboration work?
The COVID-19 pandemic has unsurprisingly led to surge in popularity for online grocery delivery services. Consumers are now spending $6.7 billion a month on online groceries, a huge increase from the 3.1 billion they were spending monthly pre-pandemic. And with TikTok also surging in popularity over the last few years during the pandemic, it seems to be a perfect collaboration.
Those CPG brands that wish to be competitive in the market cannot simply remain competitive in stores, but must push the needle through online means as well.
And this is (hopefully) just the beginning for more social CPG commerce collaborations.
As online grocery delivery continues to become more popular, Instacart is hoping to bring this feature to even more platforms and make every recipe on the internet shoppable. While certainly ambitious, it’s clear that grocery delivery isn’t going anywhere and neither is social media.
CPG brands like Instacart that continue to find ways to integrate themselves with popular social media platforms will continue to be appealing in the eyes of today’s busy consumers who expect and demand convenience in their services.
While Instacart is a prominent player in the online grocery delivery sector, they are not the only. Many other brands, like grocery chain Loblaws, have likely seen this move and begun brainstorming their own integration with social media platforms and online publications.
While Instacart may be the first to do this, they will likely not be the last and the scale that a giant like Loblaws could take these features would offer a much larger opportunity for both advertisers and consumers.
