Why Instacart Was Right for Carolyn Everson's Next Act

Just one day after Facebook confirmed who will succeed Carolyn Everson in her former post as vp, Everson herself sat down with Profitero president Sarah Hofstetter to talk about her next chapter—and Instacart’s. During Profitero’s Commerce Live event, Everson told Hofstetter she really didn’t know what was next after she departed Facebook in June. “I left really wanting to understand the landscape and what the opportunities out there might be for me,” she said. Everson soon discovered online delivery platform Instacart, which she described as “in a league of its own,” and joined as president in August. Thinking About Cutting Your Instacart Budget? Not So Fast. For starters, Everson said she loves “businesses that fundamentally change people's lives or entertain them or somehow make whatever they're doing on a daily basis better.” But she was also drawn to Instacart’s role as a solver of business challenges. “It is all about this four-sided marketplace and understanding how we can build technology to grow retailers’ businesses, how we can be a place for CPG brands to be discovered and move more product off the proverbial shelf, [how we can be] a place for consumers to save time with online grocery delivery, as well as other products, and [how we can give] shoppers a flexible way to earn extra income,” Everson added. What’s more, there was an opportunity to work with some familiar faces from her decade-long career at Facebook, including Instacart CEO Fidji Simo, who once oversaw Facebook’s app, and COO Asha Sharma, who was formerly vp of product at Facebook. Now, Everson said Instacart is the first technology company with female leaders in these three key positions. If [consumers] get on that digital train and they start speeding ahead, they don't get off and walk back to the station.Carolyn Everson “It places a huge burden of responsibility on us for a lot of women in tech that want to see that they can have these senior roles, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity where everything came together and I knew in my heart of hearts, this is where I wanted to be,” she added. All aboard the digital train Now, Everson’s role brings her closer to consumers and their daily decisions and purchases at a moment when the grocery industry in particular is just starting to change. Many consumers tested out platforms like Instacart during the pandemic, and it's a safe bet demand for convenience and speed will only intensify. In fact, Everson said orders on Instacart are up 150% since May 2021. “Once consumers get a taste of what digital can do to enhance their lives… if they get on that digital train and they start speeding ahead, they don't get off and walk back to the station,” Everson noted. “We're used to having our banking now on our phones, we're used to ordering up a car in three minutes… and so there is just a high demand from consumers to get their products faster.” In September, Instacart partnered with grocery chain Kroger to offer a 30-minute service called Kroger Delivery Now. “I certainly believe that more and more retailers will be rolling out that type of offering in the future,” Everson said. Instacart also recently acquired order management system FoodStorm to make it easier for retailers to bring inventory online and “really allow prepared foods and meals to get into consumer hands faster,” Everson said. “At the highest level, whether it's convenience, pickup, meals, prescription, alcohol delivery, special occasions, these are all different use cases because consumers have to think about what are they going to eat multiple meals a day, seven days a week,” Everson added. “Often people have families to think about, often people have different dietary needs from a health perspective, and so there's so many different consumer use cases and we're just at the earliest stages of really trying to solve for them.” The challenge for brands now is to meet consumers where they are in an omnichannel environment. “Consumers really expect brands as well as retailers to understand whether they're shopping online or in-store and, increasingly, they're going to be even more demanding when it comes to that,” she said. “I think you're going to see incredible innovation from both the CPG companies in the space as well as retailers and the more we holistically look at it from the consumer perspective, the better." Amazon Is Nixing Free Grocery Delivery at Whole Foods

Ecommerce News

Why Instacart Was Right for Carolyn Everson's Next Act

And what's on the horizon for the delivery platform

Lisa Lacy

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Lisa Lacy