I agree, I think the job is very difficult and does not pay well and so it's hard to find people who want to do it. I'm also aware that I could pay an assistant $100 to shop for me, and the reason I choose Instacart is because the service is not all that expensive.

While it could be a case of capitalist greed, it could also be a case of strategic misalignment of incentives for workers (too little pay, insufficient incentive to keep the job, etc.)

Note that I said I have been a customer for a long time, not that I know how well the company is managed or whether it understands incentives for its workers enough to thrive. This news about acquisition suggests perhaps its model was not working.

It could also be a casualty of the immigration crackdown on labor availability, or a consequence of inflation on tips (when the groceries already seem overpriced bc of inflation, maybe tips are lower), etc.