Picking the key metrics that track Instacart's health as a grocery delivery service

You are a product manager asked how you would measure whether Instacart, the grocery delivery service, is succeeding. Explain what success means for the business, choose the metrics you would track, and show how you would use them to judge whether Instacart is getting stronger or weaker. ```hint Follow one order Trace a single order from the customer's cart to the doorstep and note every party whose experience decides whether that order went well. Test each metric you propose against that list. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Is success judged for Instacart as a whole company, or for its consumer grocery ordering product only? - Which parties should the metrics speak to: the customers who order, the shoppers who pick and deliver, the retailers whose stores are listed, or all of them? - Is this for a weekly operating review or for judging long-term health over a year or more? - Does the advertising Instacart sells to consumer brands count toward success, or only the delivery business? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A short statement of what Instacart does for each party in an order, and what success means at the agreed scope - One primary metric tied to that definition, with the reason it beats the obvious alternatives - Supporting metrics arranged so a change in the primary metric can be traced to its cause - Guardrails that would expose growth that is not real progress, each with the failure it watches for - How the metrics are read in practice: segments, baselines, review cadence and what would trigger action ### Follow-up Questions - If orders grew while the average order value fell, how would you decide whether Instacart is better off? - How would the metrics you watch differ between a city Instacart just launched in and a mature one? - Which of your metrics could a team game, and how would you stop that?