Instacart, Roku Expand Ad Partnership with New Shoppable Ad Formats

Instacart and Roku logos on a purple background
(Image credit: Roku)

SAN FRANCISCO—Instacart and Roku have expanded their advertising partnership by adding a number of capabilities, including new interactive ad formats that allow consumers to purchase goods directly from an CTV ad.

The companies said their partnership on interactive ad formats, enhanced targeting capabilities and closed-loop measurement helps brands get more from their advertising efforts and provides consumers with simplified, personalized shopping experiences when watching TV at home.

“We are proud to expand our partnership with Roku, creating an advertising experience that helps people see an ad and get that product from their TV screen to their doorstep in as fast as an hour,” Tim Castelli, vice president of global advertising sales at Instacart, said. “With our combined scale and advanced data insights, we're delivering precision targeting, highly relevant ads and measurable outcomes in a privacy-compliant way to drive performance at a new level. Together, we are transforming how CPGs connect with consumers, making every ad not just an impression, but a direct pathway to purchase.”

The announcement builds on a 2023 partnership between Instacart and Roku to offer advertisers insights to measure the impact of TV ads on e-commerce purchases. Since then numerous brands, including winery Josh Cellars, have leveraged the Instacart x Roku advertising partnership. On average, across multiple advertisers, 52% of streamers who purchased a product they saw advertised on Roku via Instacart were new to that brand, the companies reported.

“In 2023, we partnered with Instacart to unlock TV measurement. Now, a year later, we’re turning our attention to what every modern CPG marketer needs: massive scale and full-funnel solutions,” Jay Askinasi, senior vice president and head of global media revenue and growth at Roku, said. “Advertisers can utilize even more of the Roku experience, from Home Screen ad placements to interactive shoppable ads. With the click of the Roku remote, users can make a purchase directly from their TV screen.”

Instacart and Roku described the new advertising capabilities as follows:

  • Shoppable ads: On Roku, consumer packaged goods advertisers can create a direct path to purchase from their ad creative via text messaging or QR code, with Instacart as the landing destination. With Instacart, people watching Roku can go from seeing an ad to getting the advertised products in their hands in as fast as an hour, shopping from their favorite retailers.
  • Home-screen ad formats: Advertisers can now make targeted, high-impact shoppable placements on the Roku home screen that drive users to purchase those products on Instacart. This premium real estate helps brands capture viewers’ attention as they decide which shows they want to watch on Roku.
  • Targeting: Roku said it can help brands reach consumers more effectively by delivering more relevant ads based on their Instacart purchase behavior. Advertisers can layer their Roku campaigns with Instacart first-party data to build category-based audience segments, both granularly (e.g., consumers who have bought their category and brand, lapsed users or consumers new to their category or brand) and more broadly (e.g. consumers who have purchased kids products or zero-sugar products), depending on their campaign objective.
George Winslow

George Winslow is the senior content producer for TV Tech. He has written about the television, media and technology industries for nearly 30 years for such publications as Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and TV Tech. Over the years, he has edited a number of magazines, including Multichannel News International and World Screen, and moderated panels at such major industry events as NAB and MIP TV. He has published two books and dozens of encyclopedia articles on such subjects as the media, New York City history and economics.

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