Grocery technology company Instacart has expanded its partnership with Allegiance Retail Services, a cooperative that supports more than 125 independently owned supermarkets across north-east USA.

The expansion includes the introduction of Instacart’s Caper Carts smart shopping trolleys at select Foodtown stores, alongside omnichannel capabilities designed to unify Allegiance’s digital, loyalty and in-store experiences.

Instacart’s Storefront Pro enterprise commerce platform is now powering modern ecommerce capabilities across all Allegiance retailers, and bringing Carrot Ads retail media tools to these businesses. In stores, the AI-powered Caper Carts are already live at Foodtown of Mount Vernon in New York, Red Bank in New Jersey and East Stroudsburg in Pennsylvania, with additional deployments planned for this year.

Allegiance is also expanding its use of FoodStorm, Instacart’s order management system for catering and prepared foods, with more store launches set for early this year. Carrot Tags, Instacart’s electronic shelf label software, will follow in upcoming phases.

“Independent grocers play a vital role in their communities, and we’re proud to work alongside Allegiance to equip their members with the tools they need to succeed and grow,” said Merrick Rosner from Instacart. “Across the USA, independent retailers using Instacart’s technology are achieving meaningful results, from substantial ecommerce growth to significant increases in profitability through retail media revenue. By expanding their partnership with Instacart, Allegiance is giving its members even more ways to grow by meeting customers wherever and however they shop.”

As part of the expansion, Instacart is partnering with AppCard (www.appcard.com), Allegiance’s loyalty provider, to deliver unified loyalty rewards, digital promotions and coupons across online and in-store shopping. Through integrations with Instacart’s Storefront Pro and Caper Carts, shoppers will now receive the same personalised deals and savings whether they’re ordering online or shopping in person.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Instacart to bring a new standard of loyalty and savings to independent grocers,” said Eran Harel, senior vice president at AppCard. “By combining AppCard’s personalised rewards and digital coupon capabilities with Instacart’s Storefront Pro platforms and Caper Carts, we’re helping retailers connect with their customers in more meaningful ways, bridging in-store and online experiences like never before.”

By bringing these technologies together across its banners, Allegiance is equipping its independent retailers with modern, enterprise-grade tools that help them compete more effectively, streamline operations and offer customers a more personalised shopping experience across every channel.

“Our expanded partnership with Instacart reflects Allegiance’s commitment to innovation that enhances both the shopper and retailer experience,” said Donna Zambo, executive vice president at Allegiance Retail Services. “By aligning ecommerce, loyalty and in-store innovation, we’re helping independent grocers meet evolving customer expectations while strengthening their competitive position.”

To learn more about the Instacart’s enterprise technologies, visit www.instacart.com/company/platform.

California-based Instacart (www.instacart.com) partners with more than 1800 national, regional and local retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from nearly 100,000 stores across North America on the Instacart Marketplace.

Allegiance Retail Services (www.allegianceretailservices.com) supports independent supermarkets (Foodtown, Freshtown, D’Agostino, Gristedes, Pathmark, LaBella Marketplace, Brooklyn Harvest, Market Fresh, Big Deal Food Market, Green Way and Shop n Bag) by providing them with marketing, advertising, technology and merchandising.

• Instacart and Costco Wholesale have expanded their North American partnership into Europe, with the launch of Costco’s first same-day delivery web sites in France and Spain, powered by Instacart’s Storefront Pro commerce platform and fulfilment services. Costco members in France and Spain can now shop online and receive delivery through Costco’s web sites at sameday.costco.fr and sameday.costco.es. The initial rollout includes delivery from all Costco locations in France and Spain, including locations in the Paris metropolitan area and Mulhouse in France, as well as Bilbao, Madrid, Seville and Zaragoza in Spain.