Instacart Facts and Savings Explained
As corona virus and resulting COVID-19 disease are holding us captive at our homes in hopes to reduce the number of cases, grocery shopping became one of the biggest concerns and more important than ever before. Many of us want to limit trips to grocery stores or eliminate them altogether, but staying home with kids requires more food than during normal situations.
Instacart delivers fresh produce from Publix
This is why grocery delivery services are busier than ever and can’t keep up with the demand. Instacart is one of such services, probably the biggest, and it’s seeing unprecedented downloads of the app and delivery requests. Let’s take a look at what it is and how it works:
Instacart will shop for you and deliver groceries from local grocery stores, pet stores, and pharmacies. All orders are made online on Instacart website and can be delivered within an hour of specified time slot. Instacart employs their own personal shoppers, who are the ones doing the shopping and delivery.
Instacart doesn’t have their own fresh produce, but sends shoppers to local stores to shop for you. Instacart doesn’t provide its employees with vehicles, they use their own cars. This is kind of like Uber, but for groceries.
You can get Instacart delivery from many local grocery stores
Instacart is available in most metropolitan areas. In fact, it’s the most popular service and covers most of the United States. You can enter your zip code online and verify that your area is eligible for grocery delivery.
When you enter your zip code, you will see all available stores in your area that Instacart will deliver groceries and other items from. You can get stuff from regular grocery stores, wine stores, specialty stores, gourmet shops, and pharmacies. If you have a Costco nearby, Instacart will deliver from there even if you are not a Costco member. The only place you won’t be able to get groceries from is Trader Joe’s. There is a rumor that companies had a falling out and there is no deal now.
Instacart delivery can be scheduled to arrive within an hour of your chosen time
Let’s talk a bit about money:
- You can get free of charge delivery for the first time after downloading the app.
- There is no mandatory membership for Instcart.
- Instacart Express is an optional membership for $99 per year or $9.99 per month. This will give you free deliveries on $35+ orders, unlimited.
- Regular deliveries are $5.99 with $35+ orders.
- Some grocery stores charge extra on groceries when shopping with Instacart.
- In-store sales and promotions are not always available through Instacart.
- Yes, you might have to pay a little extra when shopping with Instacart.
- You can still use coupons if your grocery store allows.
- Tips are highly encouraged. The suggested amount is $5 or 20% of your total order. This is especially important now, when you know that your personal shopper is going to places where nobody wants to go due to obvious risks of catching a deadly virus.
Instacart deliveries are of vital importance during quarantine
With an ongoing pandemic and quarantine, grocery shopping is often frantic. Your personal shoppers from Instacart are shopping at the same places as everybody else and will experience the same shortages of products as everybody else. You will see on the website if something is not available, but it can also happen that unavailability will become apparent only at the store, so expect to not receive everything you’ve ordered. Be patient, be nice, and be grateful for what you can get from people who will shop for you, so that you don’t have to.
Fresh grocery delivery from Instacart is very convenient
Unlike during normal times, Instacart now offers no-contact delivery, which means that your groceries will be left by the door instead of normal signature needed way.
You can get store savings with Instacart
Instacart website and customer service is experiencing high volume of calls and inquiries and that is understandable, so give them time and read FAQs to find answers.
The company is offering its employees infected with COVID-19 up to 2 weeks of paid sick leave. The same goes for quarantined employees at several cities and states.
Daily vitamin dose from Instacart
What are some pros of ordering through Instacart?
- Convenience and safety by avoiding shopping yourself during this dangerous time
- Wide selection, almost like shopping on your own
- Many choices of stores you can order from
- Shopping from Costco without membership through Instacart
- Ability to communicate with personal shoppers and select substitutes easily
Getting necessities in times of need
What are some cons?
- You can’t pick and select all your produce yourself
- Prices can be higher than in stores, different grocery retailers mark up prices differently
- Delivery fee and tips
- Fewer opportunities to use coupons and rewards
