The Algorithms That Make Instacart Roll: How Machine Learning And Other Tech Tools Guide Your Groceries From Store To Doorstep

IT'S SUNDAY MORNING, and, after your socially distanced morning hike, you look at your schedule for the next few days. You need to restock your refrigerator, but the weekend crowds at the supermarket don't excite you. Monday and Tuesday are jam-packed with Zoom meetings, and you'll also be supervising your children's remote learning. In short, you aren't going to make it to the grocery store anytime soon. So you pull out your phone, fire up the Instacart app, and select your favorite grocery store. You click through your list of previously purchased items, browse specials, search for a new key-lime sparkling water a friend recommended, then select a delivery window. About 2 hours later, you watch a shopper, wearing a face mask, place bags on your porch.