What’s up, Nomsters! We all live busy, hectic lives. That’s just a fact. With all the important things we need to do each day, the rise of on-demand services have given us all a bit of a breather by helping to take care of various tasks like grocery shopping by simply using an app! There are a multitude of apps out there that provide grocery delivery (and pickup in some cases) services, so you can shop from your phone and get everything from your favorite ice cream to fresh produce delivered directly to your door. You’re probably most familiar with restaurant food delivery, and this is a very similar concept, but with groceries. We researched and threw together a list of the best grocery delivery apps so you can spend more time doing the more valuable things in your life.
Two things to note right off the bat:
One…
A common concern people have is the uncertainty about the quality of the produce being selected. Pretty much every service has a little blurb on their site addressing this by assuring us that the “shoppers” they send in are very experienced in following directions (if you ask for green grapes, you won’t end up with red) and feeling for the produce that is most ripe and ready to go. We totally understand how not having control over choosing exactly which tomatoes you want can be a little unnerving, but so far we’ve had great experiences.
Two…
The non-store-specific apps (Amazon Prime Now, Amazon Fresh, Instacart, and Shipt) are really more focused on delivery than pickup. Yes, they technically offer some kind of pickup option, but it’s always “only in select cities” or “only in select stores in select cities” and so that’s probably not going to apply to the majority of people reading this. This business decision makes sense – people are looking for convenience when using these apps, so delivery is clearly the better, more popular, and more profitable option. But the store-specific apps (Walmart, Kroger, Safeway, etc.) DO offer a much more user-friendly approach to pickup where you purchase groceries in advance, and when drive to the supermarket, their staff will bring your groceries out and load your car for you so you can be on your way. It all just depends on how you want to approach your grocery shopping!
Anyways, here we go with the best grocery delivery apps!
Amazon Prime Now
Amazon Prime Now is one of the two grocery delivery services Amazon offers, and of the two, it’s the one we recommend. You need to have an Amazon Prime membership to use it, but this is a fantastic option if you’re looking for a quick delivery given their free deliveries in one or two hour windows on orders over $35. You can usually find a window on the same day or the following day. Amazon is really becoming the one stop shop for everything, and when they make life this easy, it’s hard to complain.
- Service Options: Pickup (from a select few Whole Foods markets only), and Delivery
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Locations: Delivers to 88 metropolitan areas in the US (visit the link above to view the full list)
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Shop: Amazon, Whole Foods, and Pet Food Express
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Fees: Amazon Prime Membership — $4.99 delivery fee for orders under $35 / Free for orders over $35
- Tipping: Not required, but encouraged. Tips go entirely to the driver.
Amazon Fresh App
Amazon Fresh is a little more confusing. It started life in mid-2019 as a paid “add-on” service that was $14.99 per month, but in late 2019 they switched it over to being free with your Amazon Prime Membership. The products you can purchase are only fulfilled by Amazon fulfillment, not by Whole Foods or any other Amazon subsidiaries. The service is also much less available than Amazon Prime Now – it’s only available in 18 cities in the US. BUT the major benefit is that delivery times are even faster than Prime Now. You can get your groceries to your door with one or two hour deliveries, which is pretty crazy. The only problem is that when they get busy, sometimes no delivery times will be available, in which case you won’t be able to place an order. They only allow you to place a delivery order for up to three days in advance, and if all the times fill up, you’re out of luck.
- Service Options: Pickup (only in select cities… which at this point looks like only Seattle), and Delivery
- Locations: Las Vegas, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Houston, Minneapolis and Phoenix
- Shop: Amazon
- Fees: Amazon Prime Membership — $4.99 delivery fee for orders under $35 / Free for orders over $35
- Tipping: Not required, but encouraged. Tips go entirely to the driver.
Instacart App
Instacart’s delivery app is one of the more well-known apps, and definitely needs to be included in a list of the best grocery delivery apps. They quite possibly deliver to the largest geographic area including most of the US and parts of Canada. In some cases you can even select pickup locations, which is nice if you need your groceries, but won’t be home to receive the delivery. Instacart can deliver as fast as an hour, but they can also do deliveries later in the day or week, so pretty much any time that fits your schedule. One of the biggest benefits is that you get a wider selection of stores than some of the other services like Amazon or the store-specific delivery services. Unlike Amazon’s two services, Instacart actually has a minimum order of $10, but if you’re grocery shopping this most likely won’t be an issue. Another cool thing to mention is that there is not subscription required, so you can place a delivery order if you’re super pressed for time one week, and not have to commit to them for a whole month or year.
- Service Options: Pickup (only from Cub Foods stores), and Delivery
- Locations: Most of the US and parts of Canada
- Shop: Albertsons, ALDI, Costco, CVS, Kroger, Loblaw, Publix, Sam’s Club, Sprouts, and Wegmans, among others. The Instacart marketplace offers more than 300 retailers and trusted local grocers, but not all are available everywhere. If you go to their site/app and enter your zip code, they’ll show you a list of the stores for which they provide delivery near you.
- Subscription: Optional — Instacart Express (annual: $99; monthly: $9.99) to get free delivery for orders over $35, reduced service fees, no surge pricing, and get free delivery from multiple stores in one order.
- Fees: If you do not subscribe to Instacart Express, you pay a delivery fee of $3.99 – $7.99 for each store you order from, and the delivery fee depends on time of day and how busy it is.
- Tipping: Not required, but encouraged. Tips go entirely to the driver.
Shipt App
Shipt is another service that’s one of the best grocery delivery apps around, but the downside is they require you to have a subscription. If you decide that this is how you want to do your grocery shopping going forward, then having a subscription is not a problem, and in fact, it’s the way to go. But, if you still prefer having the option to go to the store and pick things out yourself, then Instacart is the way to go since you can place one-off delivery orders with them and not be tied down to their service.
- Service Options: Pickup (they give a very vague explanation saying it’s only available in select areas, and if it’s available for you, it’ll be an option to choose on the checkout screen when placing your order), and Delivery
- Locations: Over 270 metropolitan areas in the US. Input your address in their app to see if you’re in their coverage area.
- Shop: We were unable to find a complete list, or even a total number of stores. It seems that they only display the stores within delivery distance from you after you enter your zip code. But they show logos for Costco, Target, Office Depot, Office Max, CVS, H-E-B, meijer, Petco, and Sur La Table on their website.
- Subscription: Required — annual: $99; monthly: $14.99
- Fees: $7 delivery fee / free delivery for orders over $35. Also, there is never any surge pricing.
- Tipping: Not required, but encouraged. Tips go entirely to the driver.
Rather Pickup Your Food?
The apps listed above are definitely our top recommendations for best grocery delivery app, but it’s worth mentioning that many of the large supermarkets provide their own pickup and delivery services, which do a MUCH better job with the pickup side of things. The usual process is you purchase your groceries using the supermarket’s app, select “pickup” on the checkout screen, choose the nearest participating store, and then drive over when your groceries are ready. Many of the stores will even have their staff carry your groceries out and load your car for you! It’s a cool service and the fee is usually a few bucks less than the grocery delivery services.
Walmart Grocery App
Walmart’s pickup and delivery service is also a super popular option across the country. Here in San Francisco there isn’t a convenient Walmart location close by, but we know it’s one of the most frequented super markets in the entire US, so it’s definitely worth mentioning!
Kroger Delivery App
Kroger also has a pickup and delivery service of their own for select stores across the country.
Safeway Delivery App
Safeway is another super market that does pickup and delivery at select locations.
Our Recommendations:
If you’re looking for the best all around grocery delivery experience, Instacart is your best option. They partner with over 300 stores across the US, they do not require a subscription (which allows you to use them only when you need grocery delivery), and they operate across most of the US and parts of Canada. If you decide to go all in on grocery delivery, their $99 annual subscription is very reasonable considering the number and breadth of the stores they work with.
If you’re looking for the cheapest grocery delivery service, Amazon Prime Now is the best option. Chances are you already have an Amazon Prime membership, and if so, Amazon Prime Now is bundled in with it. We like this service over Amazon Fresh because of the Whole Foods products that are available. You definitely don’t get the massive selection of products across a wide range of stores like you do with Instacart, but you still get high quality produce and groceries, free shipping over $35, and no additional subscription beyond your Amazon Prime membership.
If you’re looking for a grocery pickup service, choose Kroger, Walmart, Target, Safeway, or any other supermarket that offers their own pickup/delivery app depending on your store preference and what is nearby. While we prefer grocery delivery, there are some unique advantages of ordering for pickup. First, the fee is a little bit cheaper. And second, it can sometimes fit better with your schedule if, for example, you’re picking up groceries on the way home from work. You can make your purchase on their app before you leave, and simply pull up, they’ll load your car, and then you’re off.
Hope that all helps you make an informed decision! Till next time, Nomsters!
