Latest news with #OpenAIApplications
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Instacart names Chris Rogers CEO to succeed Fidji Simo
You can find original article here Supermarketnews. Subscribe to our free daily Supermarketnews newsletter. Instacart announced Wednesday it promoted its chief business officer, Chris Rogers, to succeed Fidji Simo as chief executive officer, effective Aug. 15. Simo, who announced on May 8 she's leaving the last-mile delivery company to become CEO of OpenAI Applications, will remain chair of the board at Instacart. Rogers joined Instacart in 2019 and currently oversees retailer relationships and expansions, ad sales, research and development, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, Instacart Business, and Instacart Health. "Over the last four years, we've transformed Instacart into a growing, profitable, leading technology platform that's helping reshape the grocery industry. We're building a generational company at the intersection of technology and food, and Chris is the right leader for our next chapter. He brings the kind of vision, operational excellence, and customer obsession that will help Instacart play an even bigger role in people's lives—and I couldn't be more excited to see how Chris scales the company's impact from here," Simo said in the press release. Simo assumed the CEO role in August 2021, following a 10-year stint at Facebook. She served as vice president and head of Facebook App for her last two-and-a-half years at the social media company. In that role she oversaw the company's various app features, including News Feed, Stories, Groups, Video, Marketplace, Gaming, News, Dating, Ads, and more. Rogers said in the press release that the San Francisco-based delivery company is 'transforming the future of grocery shopping, but more importantly, we're helping people solve real, everyday needs.' Rogers joined Instacart after nearly 11 years at Apple, where he served as managing director of Apple Canada. In that role, Rogers drove iPhone adoption in the market. He began his career at Procter and Gamble, where he oversaw relationships with Canadian grocers. He sits on board for data, analytics, and insights provider Spins, as well as the board of the Ad Council, a nonprofit organization that drives public service campaigns on social issues. Rogers said in a blog post Wednesday that Instacart's 'vision and strategy aren't changing.' 'And we'll invent the future of grocery with our partners by continuing to invest in cutting-edge enterprise tools and technologies, as well as enhance our leading advertising ecosystem—both of which empower retailers and brands to scale, grow and meet the evolving needs of their customers,' Rogers wrote. Instacart's most recent investment in new tech came with the acquisition of Fort Lauderdale-based ecommerce and technology company Wynshop in early May. The purchase builds on Instacart's flagship ecommerce platform, Storefront Pro. Simo said in her own letter to the Instacart team on Wednesday that Rogers was picked because of his deep understanding of the tech company's various partners, his operational experience, and his ability to mobilize teams. 'Chris knows this company. He helped shape it. And I know Chris will carry our mission forward with conviction, care, and ambition. I couldn't be more excited for him to step into the role of CEO and lead Instacart's next phase of growth,' she wrote. The abrupt announcement of Simo's departure earlier this month was premature, according to Simo, who said she went public with the change earlier than expected because of a leak about her departure to the press. Sign in to access your portfolio
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Instacart names chief business officer as next CEO
Dive Brief: Instacart announced Wednesday that Chief Business Officer Chris Rogers will become CEO, effective Aug. 15. He will replace Fidji Simo, who is stepping down from the top position to become CEO of OpenAI Applications but will remain chair of Instacart's will step into the top role after nearly six years with the grocery technology company, including around three years in his current role. Instacart positioned Rogers as a leader with decades of experience spanning consumer goods, technology, retail and media, noting that he has focused on "driving growth at the intersection of brands, retailers, and technology" in his current role. Dive Insight: In announcing Simo's upcoming departure from the CEO position, Instacart had said it would choose an existing member of the company's management team. Instacart's choice of Rogers as its next leader signals the company is continuing its strategy of bridging retailers, consumers and advertisers with technology-driven solutions. Rogers has seen Instacart's evolution both before and after Simo's arrival in 2021. He joined Instacart as vice president of global retail in 2019 after 11 years at Apple, where he served in a variety of roles, including head of consumer retail, head of carrier channel and managing director of Apple Canada. Prior to Apple, Rogers worked at Procter & Gamble as an account executive for several clients such as Loblaws, Sobeys and A&P, according to his LinkedIn profile. As chief business officer, Rogers has overseen the company's commercial operations, including retailer relationships and expansions, ad sales, mergers and acquisitions, Instacart Business and Instacart Health. Rogers currently sits on the board of data and analytics firm Spins and is a board member of the Ad Council, a nonprofit that helps launch public service campaigns addressing social issues. Rogers's ascension to the top role follows Instacart's work to establish itself as a leader in grocery technology and e-commerce "Over the last four years, we've transformed Instacart into a growing, profitable, leading technology platform that's helping reshape the grocery industry," Simo said in the announcement. "We're building a generational company at the intersection of technology and food, and Chris is the right leader for our next chapter." Simo "really set up a foundation" for the company to continue achieving double-digit growth and building its e-grocery market leadership, CFO Emily Reuter said during the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference earlier this month. "The priorities remain the same, which is that we continue to be incredibly excited about the overall market opportunity, and really, our goal as the category leader … is to continue to drive online penetration," she said at the conference. Copyright 2025 Industry Dive. All rights reserved.
Miami Herald
21-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Instacart CEO's exit won't shift company strategy, top exec says
As Instacart faces the departure of its CEO, Fidji Simo, the grocery technology company is poised to stay the course its high-profile top executive helped lay out, its CFO said at a recent conference. Simo, who is leaving after four years at Instacart to become CEO of OpenAI Applications, "really set up a foundation" for the company to continue achieving the double-digit growth across key financial metrics it has recorded for the last several consecutive quarters, CFO Emily Reuter said during the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference earlier this month. Instacart has said it will replace Simo with an internal candidate. While it's easy to imagine that a new CEO could shift Instacart's priorities, Reuter said that likely won't be the case. "The priorities remain the same, which is that we continue to be incredibly excited about the overall market opportunity, and really, our goal as the category leader … is to continue to drive online penetration," she said. Amid the changing macro-environment, consumers' use of online grocery shopping services hasn't wavered due to the combination of essential goods and convenience that e-commerce provides, Reuter noted. Instacart executives have long told investors that there is ample room to increase market share and penetration of grocery e-commerce. Doing that, though, requires not only continuing the business strategy that Instacart has already laid out for itself, but also refining several areas of the business, Reuter said. "There's not one big unlock. It's a lot of different things that work together to ultimately continue to drive order frequency [and] user growth to ultimately get to various solid and consistent GTV growth that we've had for many quarters in a row now," Reuter said. Reuter's comments firmly plant Instacart as a provider of grocery technology and e-commerce - a position that took Instacart several years to cement amid industry skepticism about the company's ambitions. Growing the user base by attracting new users and bringing people back who tried but then left Instacart is an untapped opportunity, Reuter said. For existing users, Instacart sees potential in incentivizing particular shopping behaviors, she said, without providing specifics. Instacart continues to work on improving order quality, Reuter said, noting that the company's number of fulfilled orders without errors has increased 15% over the last three years. This has helped boost the company's ability to retain customers. Expanding the variety of use cases, which Instacart has done through its Uber Eats partnership, is another vital area, she said. Instacart has found that listing restaurants brings people back to Instacart throughout the week, and they spend more incremental dollars on groceries, she added. As a result, Instacart sees "a lot of runway" with its restaurant partnership, Reuter said, without specifying future plans. Instacart's decision to lower its minimum order basket size to $10 for Instacart+ members, meanwhile, is driving increased order frequency, incremental GTV and increased adoption of Instacart+, Reuter said. "We certainly don't want to put people in a position where a fee means that I'm going to think about [not placing a small order] or think about going to another platform," she said. Instacart's scale and density of its orders as well as its improved operational capabilities allow the company to layer on smaller baskets more effectively than if it had tried to do so a few years ago, Reuter said. "It's these platform benefits from getting better at what we do in the core business, adding additional use cases, finding opportunities to drive affordability that together result in … really strong growth," Reuter said. Copyright 2025 Industry Dive. All rights reserved.
