Patricia Jones spends her fair share of time at the grocery store. “I do get tired of going as regularly as I need to pick up fresh produce,” she said.
That's why the 69-year-old is eager to test out Instacart: the app that lets you order groceries from your smart phone and have them delivered to your doorstep. Wegmans, Price Rite, CVS Pharmacy and Petco are all launching the service.
To use Instacart first you sign up for the app, then you pick your groceries, choose your delivery day and time, and pay. “If I’m just getting out of work late and need to pick something up for family and I’m leaving work…it would be a good help,” said Michelle Alessi.
There is a fee. It's $5.99 for a two-hour delivery guarantee, and Instacart charges $2.00 more if you want it in under an hour. You can also do monthly or yearly memberships, too.
There are a few items Instacart won't deliver. Beer, prescriptions from the pharmacy, and live pets from Petco are all restricted. But otherwise, the app is your oyster.
Reps for the service recommend you ask specifically for what you want. “If you were to order bananas, a customer can add a note there that says I really like my bananas over ripe or I really like them green and that tells our shopper to go and get them exactly what they want,” said Instacart Northeast Operations Manager, Kyle Carnes.
And as the old business saying goes: the (Instacart) customer is always right. “If you tell us that the banana that you got was below the standard that you would expect, we will refund that for you. We want to make it right and we want to do right by the customer every time.”
“I hope it will work out because I'm sure a lot of people would enjoy ordering their foods rather than having to come get them,” said Jones.
To learn more about the service, or to become a shopper, click here.
