The new arrangement, detailed in a September 23 press release, lets shoppers order Dollar General merchandise through the Instacart app and website, with delivery windows as short as one hour. The pilot will roll out in the coming weeks at approximately 7,000 Dollar General and pOpshelf stores before scaling up to about 20,000 stores nationwide.
Instacart Chief Commercial Officer Ryan Hamburger said the partnership will extend the retailer’s “affordability proposition” by giving customers a fast, convenient way to receive low‑priced goods, adding that the service will join more than 2,200 other retail banners on the Instacart Marketplace.
The move follows Dollar General’s recent earnings report, in which CEO Todd Vasos highlighted growing penetration across low‑, middle‑ and high‑income households. In the first quarter, the chain posted a 3.4% year‑over‑year rise in net sales, a 2% increase in same‑store sales, a 1.4% lift in customer traffic and a modest 0.5% rise in average transaction value, with the strongest customer‑count growth coming from households earning over $100,000.
For Instacart, the Dollar General deal is part of a broader push to embed its delivery infrastructure into everyday retail. The company recently expanded its partnership with The Kroger Co., allowing combined grocery and prescription deliveries at Kroger’s Fred Meyer, Ralphs and Harris Teeter banners, and earlier rolled out Kroger Express Delivery with 30‑minute windows.
If the pilot proves successful, Dollar General expects to make same‑day delivery available at the majority of its 20,000‑plus stores by the end of the year, giving shoppers in 48 states a new channel to access the discount retailer’s low‑price merchandise while saving time.