CART

Maplebear Inc. (Instacart)

HALAL

Score: 78/100

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Is CART Halal?

Online grocery delivery marketplace and retail-media advertising — a permissible technology and logistics business with a net-cash balance sheet.

What You Should Know

Maplebear Inc., operating as Instacart, runs a grocery delivery and pick-up marketplace that connects shoppers with retailers, earning transaction and fulfillment fees plus a fast-growing retail-media advertising segment. Facilitating the sale and delivery of everyday groceries is a permissible activity, and the advertising revenue is largely from consumer brands promoting ordinary products. Instacart carries little to no interest-bearing debt and holds a large net-cash position, so it passes the debt screen comfortably. The main caveats are minor: some grocery baskets and a sliver of advertising involve products such as alcohol, and interest earned on its sizable cash pile should be checked against the 5% threshold with the corresponding portion of returns purified.

⚠️ Concerns

•A small share of delivered baskets and retail-media advertising involves alcohol or other non-compliant grocery products — generally a minor fraction of revenue but worth monitoring against the 5% haram-revenue threshold
•Instacart holds a very large cash balance; interest income earned on that cash should be confirmed against the 5% threshold and the corresponding portion of any returns purified
•As a relatively recent IPO, the revenue mix between transaction fees, fulfillment, and advertising can shift — re-screen periodically