Instacart is a leading online American retailer and pickup center of groceries & other items. It was founded by an Indian guy named, Apoorva Mehta in the year 2012. It is an online platform that has partnered with around 750 local and national retailers to sell the products in more than 70,000 stores located in 5500 cities in North America. It deals in a wide range of varieties of branded food items which includes Dairy & Bakery Products, Fresh & Organic Fruits and Veggies, Meat & Its Alternatives, Seafood, Pantry food, and Beverages & Alcohols, Household Essentials, Beauty Products, and Office Supplies.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trend of pickup services (also known as Curbside picking) has been on a rise. Like other big box stores, Instacart publicly announced this service for the first time on Nov 7, 2018, and has rolled out its pickup services from 2019. A pickup service is a service that facilitates its customers to choose the items online and then picks them up when they are ready, from the store’s gate or designated pickup location as decided by the store. Instacart is providing this service through its 200 stores across 25 key markets located in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Minneapolis, Nashville, San Francisco & Washington D.C.
Top Brands With Whom Instacart Has Partnered With: –
- ALDI
- Cub Foods
- Food Lion
- Price Chopper
- Publix
- Wegmans
- Schnucks
- Smart & Final
- Sprouts Farmers
- Tops Friendly Markets
How to Use the Instacart Pickup Service?
- You can access it by logging into the Instacart mobile app or its website www.instacart.com.
- Now, select your city and the desired store. It is important here to note that only the stores, under whose names the word “Pickup” is written, accept the pickup orders.
- After selecting the store, choose the groceries items in your cart.
- Here, two options will be displayed on the screen i.e. Pickup and Home delivery. Choose the “Pickup” option.
- Then, select a pickup time before you log out of the site or app.
- You will receive a message from the retailer when your order is ready.
- You can go & pick it up from there.
Why Choose Pickup Option when the Home Delivery Facility is there?
Although with the advent of online shopping, people prefer it because of the home delivery service it provides rather than going to shop. But, there are still many advantages of Curbside Picking over Home Delivery service that is as follows: –
- Faster – It is much faster than the in-home delivery option because the pickup service ensures same-day delivery.
- Cheaper – The first & most important aspect is the cost factor, considered while purchasing anything. The pickup option is less costly than the home delivery service.
- Saves Time – Nobody has even a few spare minutes in this fast-paced world. Everybody is in a hurry so they love to pick up items as it saves their parking time, shopping & searching time in going to the store, and wait time for home delivery, etc.
- Safer – It is a better & safer option as there is surety of getting exactly what you have ordered. There is a fear of in-home delivery packages being stolen, tampered with, or damaged but, it’s not the case in the pickup option.
- Reduced Logistics Costs – From the suppliers’ viewpoint, this option is also advantageous over home delivery as many of the costs are automatically cut down like shipping, packing, postal charges incurred in sending parcels or packages, etc.
- Omni channel Experience – Many of the customers get satisfaction in traditional shopping by going to brick & mortar stores. Only curbside picking can give you satisfaction by providing you with both the comfort of online shopping as well as the experience of face-to-face interaction with the retailer while collecting the goods.
Are There Some Cons Too Related To It?
Yes, there are a few cons as well because nothing comes with perfection in this world no matter how hard you try to make it perfect. Some of them are: –
Higher Expectations of Customers
There are always high expectations of instant delivery on arriving at the pickup location. Sometimes, there may be a delay in arranging & packing the ordered items in the case, an item is finished at the store and needs to be brought to the store from the warehouse. This time delay can lead to customer dissatisfaction.
Customers’ Travelling Costs
To pick up the ordered items, a customer has to incur travel costs for going to the store.
More Staff is required
For successful execution of the pickup service, there arises a need of hiring more employees who are skilled & effective in handling simultaneously the customers in store & customers waiting outside the store for pickup. As in real-time, it is not possible to carry the items, to the car of each and every customer, at the same time with a limited staff.
Conclusion
Instacart pickup is one of the best initiatives taken by the organization as it helps to minimize contact with other people while shopping. No need to go even inside the store to pick up your order, one employee will bring it out to your car parked in the store’s parking lots. You can schedule your pick-up as per your convenience at flexible timings. It’s not compulsory to reach the store at the same time you have selected while making the order. If for any reason you can’t get there at the scheduled time, you can inform them by a call and they will keep your order safe.
