INSTACART HOME DELIVERY- Information from the CCC Emergency Preparedness/Public Safety Committee

In our area, Instacart handles home deliveries from the following stores: Fred Meyer, Safeway, Costco, Target, New Seasons and Petco.  Instacart is an independent contractor that allows you to shop at these stores online, then sends a “personal shopper” to fulfill and deliver your order. This personal shopper goes to the store, picks up everything on your list, and then drives it to you in their own car. How to begin:

• Go to https://www.instacart.com/ The opening page may be for a particular store, like Fred Meyer. To the left of your screen, click on a drop-down menu “STORES” and select the store you want.
• You will need to sign-up with Instacart, the process is very straight forward.
• Select the store you want and begin shopping Understand that Instacart has nothing to do with how the prices are set. Typically, you might have to pay a little more for most items through Instacart than if you were shopping in real life. NOTE: Some folks have found shopping on the Fred Meyer website (rather than on Instacart’s) is more user friendly. Instacart will still be delivering your items, the order is just done on the FM website.
• Instacart shoppers are shopping at the same stores as the rest of the American public. Which means, right now, lots of products may not be available. The app and website usually does a good job to warn you if something is low or out of stock, but know that you might not receive everything you request in your order. (Your total price will be corrected to accurately reflect what you did receive.)
• Delivery costs are typically about $10.00
• You can opt to have items left at your door
• You can choose a delivery day and time window
• ABOUT TIPPING: Tips are strongly encouraged. $5 or 20 percent of the total bill is typical but with everything going on right now, you may want to consider even more, if you are in the position to do so. Most people don’t want to leave their houses right now and your Instacart shopper might be taking this job because the money is desperately needed. Please, do what you can to support them.

Pros:

Very convenient,

Thorough online selection, close to what you’d find in-store

Ability to order from stores beyond supermarkets

Access to Costco even without a membership

Friendly personal shoppers and an easy ordering experience; shoppers are communicative if there are any issues or substitutions

Cons:

Can’t be too choosy particularly right now when some supplies are low

Prices vary from actual in-store prices, which means you could pay a premium (but not always).

Experience:

Reports from residents who have used Instacart are favorable. Personal shoppers seem to communicate very well via text.