Here's What You Need To Know Before You Spend Your Whole Next Paycheck On Instacart Groceries
There's not much you can't buy online today-including literally every single food you need to stock your kitchen, perishable or not. And while you may be a longtime Blue Apron or paleo-friendly meal plan devotee, there are so many options out there, you might not even know how else it's best to get your groceries online. Fear not, though, friend-we got you.
Rather than actually ordering meal kits, services like Instacart, Amazon Fresh, Drizly, Jet, and Google Express allow you to curate individual grocery items instead of getting a pre-determined set that'll only make you a specific meal. That said, these services require some patience, double-checking, and forethought on your part. A few best practices when it comes to using any of the above grocery ordering platforms:
Be ready for substitutions.
Unless you're communicating with the service via its app (a handful of stores that offer delivery don't have people to easily communicate with in real time re: your groceries), you're likely to get at least a swap-in or two should you ask for something unusual. That could be the result of Fairway not having your particular choice of creme fraiche in stock...or it could be that said creme fraiche was just dwarfed by the pile of mascarpone right next to it.
Some supermarkets have hotlines.
Assuming you decided to go through the store directly, most of them do have customer service lines you can call to modify your order as it's happening. Here is Whole Foods', for example.
Consider picking your groceries up.
No, I don't mean consider actually going to a supermarket, getting a shopping cart, picking out everything you need by yourself, paying for it, and schlepping it all home (although...). Places like Walmart and Shop-Rite give you the option to order everything from your phone and then going to get it when it's all ready. This allows you to deal with any issues you see in your bags upfront, and it still saves you plenty of time.
First-timers often get discounts on delivery.
Grocery delivery is almost never without a delivery fee. And yet, if you Google "free grocery delivery first-time coupon," you'll find one for almost all the major platforms. Here, I did it for you: Have a blast!
Beware of minimum orders.
You may very well need that very last cake ingredient in a hurry, but it might cost more than the item's $3.99 to get it to you. Different places have varying minimum delivery costs-some of them (ahem, Amazon Fresh) are even as high as $50.
Don't wait to order things until the last minute.
Just about every service in this vein on this planet is pretty flexible about drop-off times...and just about every service in this vein on this planet books up delivery slots the closer it gets to a major holiday. I see you sitting on your picnic party shopping list over there. I see you not doing anything about it just yet. Just do it. Now!
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