#instacart – Personal Grocery Shopping Service Delivered to your doorstep

On blustery winter days like today it is simply a pain to bundle up the kids and go anywhere outside of the house. However what do you do when you have zero fruit or anything remotely edible for dinner.

One of my clients recently posted on Facebook ‘thank goodness for instacart’…As I was about to ‘like’ her post I realized I had no idea what she was talking about. When we met at her new home closing the next day she told me about this wonderful ‘app’ that has saved her life! She is a new mom with a baby and as we all know babies have unpredictable schedules and sometimes you just can’t leave the house even when you need to run errands.

She explained to me that for a nominal fee a personal shopper would go to your favorite grocery store, pick out all of your food with your specifications (i.e.; green banana’s vs. yellow) and then deliver them to your home within a few hours. Shopping while your kids nap?…I was SOLD and had to try it immediately. This incredible app is called Instacart (you can also order via their website http://www.instacart.com). It isn’t available in all locations yet, but it is available in our city (woo hoo).

I downloaded the simple app, selected my choice grocery store (Mariano’s) and started shopping. One thing I noticed was that I could really stick to my grocery list and not be suede by temptations, which ends up saving me money. One negative I found so far is that the app doesn’t show when my selected items are on sale, and I don’t believe they credit you if they are (meaning they don’t use a Mariano’s value card during checkout to get discounts). This may prompt me to shop at a store that doesn’t have a preferred card and gives a discount automatically, like Jewel. This theory is yet to be tried and tested.
There is a $10 order minimum and shipping is free on your first order. Thereafter the shipping runs about $5.99 on the high-end. Tipping is also available right online so you never have to exchange money with your personal shopper/delivery person – think Uber.

My 1st experience was great! My personal shopper was super nice and even called me from the store when something I ordered wasn’t available and he gave an alternative which I accepted. I placed the order around 1:30pm and the food arrived at my door by 4:00pm – now that was fast! It probably would’ve taken me longer to get the kids schedules coordinated, bundled and out the door. In this case, I wasn’t even home when ordering and it was ready for my nanny to receive! So awesome! You do have a choice if you want to be home to receive the delivery, you can opt for within the hour to next day delivery.

They even emailed me today stating that if I order again they would offer free shipping! I love it when companies send me deals. This is one app I will be a shopping at again and again.