Instacart budget dayparting

Budget Dayparting helps you distribute daily budget across different weekdays and hours so that more budget is allocated to higher-value periods.

1. Feature Overview

Budget Dayparting dynamically adjusts campaign budgets hourly based on the allocation schedule you configure.

For Instacart:

• Only Sponsored Product campaigns are supported

• Only campaigns with a daily budget are supported

• The execution timezone is PST

• The currency is fixed to USD

The page will remind you that:

• You can distribute each day's budget across different time slots using percentages or fixed values, and you can also set different daily budgets by day.

• After Budget Dayparting is enabled, maintain daily budget in Xnurta only, because the platform budget will be updated dynamically.

• After Budget Dayparting is disabled, Xnurta restores the platform budget using the current daily budget in Xnurta.

• Any changes you save take effect from the next top-of-hour execution window and future cycles.

2. Create a Budget Dayparting Rule

From the Automation Rules page:

1. Click Create Rule

2. Select the advertiser

3. Select Budget Dayparting

4. Enter the rule name

When creating the rule, please note:

• No currency selector is shown for Instacart

• The rule name cannot be empty. It is best to include the store, purpose, and intended time pattern for easier identification

3. Two Allocation Methods

Budget Dayparting supports two setup methods:

• Percentage allocation

• Fixed-value allocation

3.1 Percentage Allocation

This method works well when budget needs vary significantly and you want to pace spend by ratio throughout the day.

Setup rules:

• You can set daily budget by Multiplier or by Value

• Each time slot must be assigned a percentage

• All time slots for the day must add up to 100%

• Daily Budget x First Time Slot Percentage cannot be lower than 1

Value validation:

• Up to two decimal places

• Instacart range: 0

3.2 Fixed-Value Allocation

This method works well when the budget structure is relatively stable and you want to allocate exact amounts by time slot.

Setup rules:

• Daily budget must be set first

• Each time slot uses a specific budget amount

• A single time slot cannot exceed the day's budget

• All time slots together must equal the daily budget

Value validation:

• Up to two decimal places

• Instacart range: 0

Additional notes:

• In fixed-value mode, budget bars still use intensity based on allocation ratio

• After allocation is completed, you can use View to review current budget by time slot

4. Instacart-Specific Rules and Limitations

4.1 Daily Budget Only

For Sponsored Product campaigns, only campaigns with a daily budget can use Budget Dayparting.

4.2 Minimum Budget When Bid Optimization Is Enabled

If a Sponsored Product campaign also has bid optimization enabled, the platform applies a minimum daily budget requirement:

• Minimum daily budget: $20

When this occurs, pay close attention to the budget threshold reminder so it is not mistaken for a system issue.

4.3 Active-Serving Campaigns Only

Even if a campaign is linked to the rule, budget changes do not execute unless the campaign is in an eligible serving state.

5. When the Rule Takes Effect

Budget Dayparting runs hourly and usually takes effect from the next top-of-hour execution window.

Example:

• If you update evening budget allocation at 15:10, the system does not retroactively change allocations that already executed before 15:00

• The new settings are recalculated and synced in the following top-of-hour execution windows

6. Recommendations

• If you already understand intraday traffic differences well, start with percentage allocation.

• If budget structure is stable and you want direct control by amount, use fixed-value allocation.

• If you want to reduce spend during low-efficiency periods while also lowering competitiveness, consider combining Budget Dayparting with Bid Dayparting.