Instacart shoppers besieged by bots that snatch lucrative orders

The Instacart interface for shoppers shows product images and aisle locations for items on a customer’s list. While bots aren’t a new problem for Instacart, the recent deluge is different because it comes at a time of white-knuckled expansion for the startup. — Sarasota Herald-Tribune/TNS

Lisa Marsh’s job shopping and delivering groceries for Instacart during the past three years has been unforgiving. Company tipping policies cut into earnings while boycotts and other labour strife created confusion, she said.

Then the global pandemic hit, transforming once mundane trips to Los Angeles grocery stores where she lives into a palpable health risk.