Instacart Shopper Review: What Is It, How It Works | Best Grocery Delivery Service

One of the best grocery delivery apps in the US is Instacart.

This app has helped thousands of people around the US to order their groceries online without having to leave their homes.

Not only that, but Instacart has also allowed thousands of people to earn some side income since it allows regular people like you and me to work as shoppers.

Thus, Instacart has a significant contribution to the US economy.

But in this article, l will quickly address some of the most common questions regarding this app since a lot of people still want to know more about Instacart.

So l have decided to pick some hot questions and l answered them through this blog post.

Some of them includes:

Without further ado, let me jump straight into more detail.

What Is Instacart?

In simple terms, Instacart is a platform which allows people to order groceries at the comfort of their homes and have them delivered to their doorstep.

Instacart is available in app version as well as web version thus you can access this platform without having to worry about downloading any file to your device.

Instacart has been around for some years but it was less popular back then.

However, this platform gained a lot of traction during the pandemic as most people were not able to travel to physical stores due to lockdown restrictions.

For this reason, most people turned their heads to this platform since it was regarded as a better way of purchasing groceries without leaving your home.

Thus, Instacart is a big deal just like Doordash, Shipt, etc.

With that being said, let's quickly look at how this platform works so that you can get a better understanding of this platform.

How Does Instacart Work?

Basically, customers places their orders through the Instacart app at the comfort of their homes.

Once their orders are registered on the platform, they become visible to Instacart drivers or shoppers who are within that area.

When a driver finds an order which he like to fulfil, he can simply accept that order on his phone.

Any driver can choose to fulfil or ignore an order based on various factors such as distance, profit per item, etc.

But assuming a driver accepts an order, he is required to go to the grocery store and pick the items which the customer requested.

The beauty thing about Instacart is that it allows you to scan any item using your phone.

Thus you can simply scan any item so as to make sure that it is the exact product ordered by the customer.

Let's say that some of the ordered items are not available in the store, the driver/shopper can message or even call the customer to inform him/her about the situation.

This allows the customer to adjust his/her order e.g. through replacing some items.

If the shopper finishes to buy the items, he can simply deliver the items to the customer's location.

The process is just simple and straight forward although there might be some few challenges here and there.

What Is The Fee For Instacart?

Instacart comes with 2 plans i.e. the monthly plan which costs $9.99 per month & the yearly plan which costs $99 per year.

You can save 20 bucks if you choose the yearly plan as Instacart gives a huge discount to people who buys this package.

In both plans, you can get access to the express membership which allows you to get your orders delivered at no extra cost.

Thus, you wont need to stress about paying delivery fees if you subscribe for the express membership plan.

However, keep in mind that there are some cases where there’s some alterations due to various factors.

Thus, you might be required to pay some few additional fees in such cases.

How To Become An Instacart Shopper?

In order to become an Instacart shopper, you must meet the minimum requirements i.e. 18yrs +, US resident and you must be able to lift at least 40 lbs.

Once you meet these conditions, simply head over to the Instacart main website and start the application process.

The first thing that is required is your Zip code so that they can know which region best fits you.

Once you enter your Zip code, you can now start the ‘real' application process.

You will be asked if you want to become a ‘Full service shopper’ or an ‘In-store shopper’.

Just to give you an analogy, a full service shopper is someone who does simultaneous tasks of picking the items as well as delivering them.

Thus, you must have a car if you want to become a full service shopper in order to be able to deliver orders.

On the flip side, in-store shoppers are those people who just pick items for customers but they don't have any obligation to deliver those items.

Rather, they will handle those products to someone else who will deliver them to the customer.

Thus, you don't need to have your own car in order to become an in-store shopper since you wont be delivering any items.

Keep in mind that full service shoppers earn a lot of money than in-store shoppers since the former does a lot of work than the latter.

Ok, so let's assume that you have decided to become a full service shopper, you'll need to verify your driver’s licence as required by the law.

Once you're done, your application will be submitted and you have to wait for 5 to 7 days (processing period).

Once you get approved, you'll get your Instacart card and you'll be ready to start working.

How Do Instacart Drivers Get Paid?

So ideally, they get paid based on the type of orders which they fulfil i.e. orders with expensive items tends to pay more than orders with cheap items. (cost per item)

Another thing to note is that you'll earn some tips when you complete an order and the tips varies from one customer to another.

Some customers are willing to pay more tips whilst other are just stingy.

But if you find great clients with high value orders, you will earn huge amounts from both tips and service fees.

The beauty part about Instacart is that you can claim your money at any time as long as you fulfil the minimum required orders.

Thus, you can request your earnings at any time rather than waiting for a specific pay day.

Instacart Pros

For Customers

• Shopping at the comfort of your homes

• Saves you time and energy which is required to travel to the store

• The fees are very affordable

For Instacart Shoppers

• Extra side income

• You can earn great tips

• You work whenever you feel like working

Instacart Cons

For Customers

• Wrong products at times

• Delays at times

For Instacart Shoppers

• Stiff competition from other shoppers

• Some customers are difficult to handle.

Wrapping Up

I hope that you have gained some value from this post as l tried to summarise everything l know about Instacart.

Obviously, this post would have been longer if l had written all the information regarding this platform.

But l tried to just give you a brief overview of what to expect when you signup for this platform.

In my opinion, Instacart is a great platform for both customers and workers who're looking for ways to make some side income.

Customers gets the freedom to order their own groceries online without having to leave their homes.

On the other hand, Instacart workers gets the privilege to earn some few extra bucks during their spare time.

Although this platform comes with some few challenges, l still believe that Instacart is a useful platform for most US citizens.

Thus, l highly recommend you to check out this platform i.e. whether you want to order groceries or maybe you want to become a shopper.

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