Waiting for checkout in long queues is history now. And in recent times when there is still a Covid-19 scare, people are buying groceries from the ease of their homes avoiding any social contact. Two of the very famous and leading online grocery platforms in the United States are Instacart and Amazon Fresh. Lets’ start with Instacart Vs Amazon Fresh.
Instacart and Amazon Fresh are both American companies that sell home goods. They allow customers to order groceries from the official websites and mobile apps and get them delivered to their doorstep.
Intsacart-
Instacart is an American company which started in 2012. Instacart doesn’t sell its items they have a tie-up with numerous retailers. Instacart membership costs $ 9.99 per month, though you can also order stuff without being a member on Instacart. Members get free delivery on orders below $ 35 and are exempted from fees like busy pricing.
Pros of Instacart-
- Delivers within two hours of the order being placed.
- If you want to pick up your items yourself, you can do that too.
- You can chat with the shopper and get updates on your delivery.
- Non-members can also order.
- Instacart offers a lot of deals.
- Instacart serves about 4,000 cities.
Cons of Instacart-
- The prices online are much higher than in-store shopping.
- They have some bad reviews about the delivered items being missing and of bad quality.
- There are a lot of fees attached.
How does Instacart deliver?
Instacart hires independent workers to deliver your order. After you place an order on Instacart, a worker comes and shops for you. They keep you in contact while shopping, if the item is unavailable they ask you if they could bring a substitution for that item. After they complete shopping they deliver it to your house. You don’t even have to be at your home to pick up orders as the delivery is contactless.
Amazon Fresh-
Amazon Fresh is a part of the biggest American company Amazon, which started in 2007. Amazon Fresh provides their customers home delivery of not just groceries but clothes, daily essentials and whole foods etc. Amazon Fresh is available to only Amazon prime members. Prime members get access to Amazon Fresh without any additional cost. If a customer has SNAP EBT he can also have access to Amazon Fresh.
Amazon Fresh pros-
- Amazon Fresh items are rarely out of stock.
- Prime members have automatic access to Amazon Fresh.
- Deliveries by Amazon Fresh are very fast almost within two hours of order.
- Packaged items cost about 10% to 30% less than what you get at Instacart.
- Amazon Fresh offers a lot of deals.
- Amazon offers live customer support.
Amazon Fresh cons-
- Items only above $ 35 get free delivery.
- No coupons can be applied in-store or online at Amazon Fresh.
- Amazon Fresh delivers to fewer cities than Instacart.
How does Amazon Fresh deliver?
After you place an order, upon checkout you get to choose if you want your delivery in two hours or not. An Amazon employee packs up your order and then calls for a delivery driver. They also add a tip for delivery drivers in your final bill. The delivery by Amazon Fresh is also contactless so you can order even when you’re not at home.
Instacart Vs Amazon Fresh
Instacart and Amazon Fresh are both decent options for grocery shopping. Although Instacart has a slight upper hand as it does not require any membership and has partnered up with way more retailers and stores than Amazon Fresh.
Also, both these services are known to be the absolute best in the United States, so if Amazon doesn’t deliver to your area the best option for you is Instacart and the other way around.
Conclusion-
Both the grocery shopping platforms aren’t much different from each other, you will have to choose what will be convenient for you, based on the product availability, distance from your house, and the cost of the items on both the online platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
▪ Where do I get an Instacard payment card?
After you finish downloading and signing the app, they tell you to pick your Instacard payment card up for yourself or they’ll mail it to you in about a week.
▪ Can one pay cash for a grocery order at Instacard?
No, Instacard doesn’t allow payments through cash. You’ll either have to pay with your debit card or credit card.
▪ How do Amazon Fresh and Amazon-Whole foods deliver?
Amazon Fresh is a full grocery store available online. Amazon delivery drivers go to Amazon warehouses and pick up your already packed order by Amazon employees and then deliver them to your doorstep. Amazon-Whole Foods are picked up from Whole food locations. Delivery drivers go inside the marketplace and pick up their assigned orders and deliver them to you.