Two weeks ago I tried Instacart for the first time. I am conflicted about it.
For those who do not know, Instacart is an online delivery service for groceries. You sign up, put in your zipcode, and it shows you which stores are available to shop from in your area.
I was curious and checked out some the zipcodes we lived in in rural Pennsylvania, and Instacart is not available there (and probably will never be available.) It seems to be a city thing, at least for now.
I selected Kroger and “shopped” for all of the usual things I normally buy. I selected a within 5 hour window delivery. There are other delivery time options with varying prices.
I’ll admit, I had some anxiety going into it. For some of the things selected, a pop up window came up telling me that the item is sometimes sold out, and to please select a replacement, just in case. I think this is easier to wrap your head around when you’re actually at the grocery store yourself.
I signed up for text message notifications, and I was sent a text that Philip was shopping our order. A couple of times he texted me that an item I wanted wasn’t available, and would I like this instead? That was a nice feature.
A few hours later, he pulled up in front of our apartment, and handed us all of the bags. That was it, an easy transaction.
The one big downfall to all of this is that I ended up spending $30 over budget! I have a budget that I stick to for each shopping trip, and I am usually well under that amount, so I was surprised to see such a high number.
Now, this included a service fee, a delivery fee and a tip for the shopper. Supposedly if you buy an annual membership, the fees go away. But then you’re spending the money on the membership fee. It seems like the only option is for time and convenience to be gained, but money to be lost. Right now we do not have the money to pay the membership fee up front. I am also assuming that the grocery prices are higher per item through Instacart compared to in-store.
Other people I have talked to said that they do not see much of a price difference because shopping online saves them from impulse buys. I’ve never had a problem with this myself, usually planning all of my meals out ahead of time.
I think it is a good thing for people who are truly too busy and cannot afford the time to go to the store, but I think I will just keep shopping at the grocery store myself to keep costs down.
Someone suggested to me that I use Walmart grocery delivery. Same concept, but you go to the store and they put the groceries in your truck for you. For me personally, I think this isn’t worth it, unless you lived close to a Walmart. My closest super-Walmart is about 10 minutes away, more like 20 with traffic, so I might as well just stay there and do the shopping myself.
Have you used these delivery services before? What do you think?
Texas Tales 