The company said Tuesday it will cover the cost of tipping a customer, up to $10, if a customer withdraws the tip after delivery without reporting a problem with their order.
As demand for Instacart soared in the early months of the pandemic, customers struggled to get slots. Some have used tipping to entice Instacart shoppers, who are treated as independent contractors, to pick up their orders first, but then removed tipping after delivery, leaving shoppers demoralized.
An Instacart spokesperson told CNN Business at the time that the vast majority of people adjusted their tip up or did not adjust their tip after delivery. Instacart also claimed that customers typically leave feedback if and when a tip is removed.
Two months after the CNN Business report, Instacart announced several changes to its tipping policy, including requiring customer reviews that remove a tip entirely after delivery and shortening the time window in which customers can change a tip. at 24 hours, down from the previous one. three-day window. While customers are still required to provide feedback when clearing tips, unless they also report a problem with their order, a shopper’s tip — up to $10 — will now be protected.
Tip protection is one of several updates the company announced on Tuesday aimed at supporting its shopper workforce, which has more than doubled to 600,000 during the pandemic. Other updates include prompting customers to add a tip if they didn’t leave one, or increase a tip if they give a buyer five stars.