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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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