The document provides a summary and analysis of the user engagement strategies of Safeway and Instacart grocery delivery services based on the experiences of a sample user over 3 weeks. It outlines the key activities the user performed on each platform and the messages they received. For Safeway, the timeline shows they relied primarily on email blasts and did not adequately respond to cart abandonment. Instacart sent more frequent messages across email, push, and SMS but many ended up in spam folders. The analysis concludes Safeway focused on a single email channel while Instacart tried more channels with mixed success on delivery.

1. User Engagement Teardown
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2. User Engagement Teardown
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3. A Quick Word on Iterable
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touchpoints and test strategies at scale
without engineering support.
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4. What is a “User Engagement Teardown?”
We analyze an user engagement over a defined period post-signup.
• We offer constructive evaluation and feedback.
• We cover all types of B2C businesses: e-commerce, marketplaces,
media, politics, etc.
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5. Background on Safeway and Instacart
Safeway and Instacart provide two leading grocery
delivery services in the U.S.
• Safeway, founded in 1915, is an American
supermarket chain with 1,300+ locations.
• Instacart, founded in 2012, serves 25 states in
the U.S. and is currently valued at $3.4B.
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6. What We Did
Signed up and received messages over 3 weeks between May — June 2017
We escalated activity over time:
• Completed user profiles
• Downloaded mobile apps
• Abandoned shopping carts at checkout
• Completed a purchase with each delivery service
• Reviewed orders after received deliveries
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7. On to the User Engagement Timeline…

8. User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
We’ll show you what we (the user) did here…
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90

9. User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
We’ll show you what we (the user) did here…
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
…and the messages we received here.
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90

10. User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
We’ll show you what we (the user) did here…
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
…and the messages we received here.
Activities and message types are
color coded as shown in this key.
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90

11. Now let’s look at Safeway and Instacart’s user
engagement.
First, Safeway…

12. The Safeway User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile

13. The Safeway User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
After creating a new account, we
received a welcome email with
featured coupons and offers.

14. The Safeway User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
We completed tasks on desktop and mobile, but
they did not trigger any messages.

15. The Safeway User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
Safeway sent a stream of email blasts with offers,
as well as an encouragement to download the
mobile app, which we had already done.

16. The Safeway User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
None of these messages responded to
our recent cart abandonment.

17. The Safeway User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
We then received a cart recovery email 3
days after the second time we abandoned
the cart, 5 days after our first attempt.

18. The Safeway User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
After we completed our purchase, Safeway sent
an order confirmation email. The day after, we
received a delivery notification email.

19. The Safeway User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
Two days after we placed the order, Safeway
sent a triggered email that encouraged us to
write a review, as well as a regular blast.

20. The Safeway User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
However, Safeway did not respond
after we wrote a review, but sent two
promotional blasts instead.

21. Now let’s look at Instacart’s user engagement…

22. The Instacart User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile

23. The Instacart User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
After we created a new account, we received a
welcome email that offered 7-day free delivery
and encouraged us to download the mobile app.

24. The Instacart User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
However, we did not receive any messages triggered by our
mobile actions. Instead, Instacart sent a stream of blasts to
count down to the end of the free promotion.
All of these emails went to the spam folder.

25. The Instacart User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
Instacart also did not react to our cart abandonment.
They extended the free delivery offer and sent another
stream of reminder emails that went to spam.

26. The Instacart User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
After we completed our purchase,
Instacart sent a total of 3 emails: 2 order
confirmations and 1 blast email.

27. The Instacart User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
Instacart also sent 4 mobile messages during
delivery: 1 push notification with estimated
delivery time, and 3 SMS regarding purchase,
shipping and delivery, respectively.

28. The Instacart User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
The next day, we received another triggered
email asking us to review our order, as well
as a blast about referral.

29. The Instacart User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
We received a thank you note the
day after writing our review.

30. The Instacart User Engagement Timeline
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MessagesUserActivity
Message TypeActivity Type
Blast
Transactional
Triggered
Desktop Mobile
SMS/Push
Created new account
Downloaded app
Signed up for SMS
Days from
start: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90
Completed purchase
Mobile check-in
Abandoned cart
Abandoned cart again
Wrote review
Completed user profile
One week after ordering, Instacart sent a
restocking email, featuring items we
purchased, but it went to spam again.

31. Frequency Takeaways
During the 3 weeks, Safeway and Instacart differed in the frequency of
messages per channel.
• Safeway: 12 emails
• Instacart: 19 emails, 1 push notification, 3 SMS
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32. Differing Priorities
Instacart tried to engage with users more often by sending more blasts,
although deliverability appeared to be an issue.
Safeway relied on single-channel email messaging and did not send any
mobile messages.
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33. Now let’s look at the message content…

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These are three standard Safeway
messages (as depicted in Outlook).
You’ll notice…

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Relevant images with color

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Emphasis on offers and promotions

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Clear calls to action to complete
an order on desktop.

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Cramped text that seems to suggest issues
related to the email client and design
responsiveness.

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These are three standard Instacart
emails (as depicted on Outlook).
You’ll notice…

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Consistent branding in
imagery

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Clear calls to action with
mobile responsiveness

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Mobile app download
buttons

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Modern, personal voice &
emoji usage

44. Content Takeaways
Each company’s content reflects its approach to delivery promotion.
Safeway Delivery:
• Highlights numerous offers and coupons
• Encourages desktop purchases
Instacart:
• Prioritizes mobile interactions
• Offers are often limited in a time-sensitive promotion
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45. Recommendations
Both companies could improve their triggered content by sending
timely, personalized messages that react to user actions.
Instacart could improve their email deliverability to reach more
customers and increase user engagement.
Safeway could enhance their mobile engagement by coordinating
messaging across email, push and SMS to increase app usage.
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