If you want to know whether to go with Amazon Fresh or Instacart, this article is ideal for you.
It reveals a lot about Amazon Fresh and Instacart, the pros and cons, how they compare and which is better.
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Why Amazon Fresh and Instacart?
Since I live in a big city, I basically have access to everything – things like Amazon Fresh and Instacart amaze me.
These are two services that deliver groceries to my doorstep.
First, this company has paid $25+ million to members:
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That’s right, you can go online, choose your groceries and have them dropped off to you.
This is great for those like me who are trying to avoid public area where they are people (I take the whole Covid-19 ordeal serious).
Since I have access between Instacart and Amazon Fresh, I had to do some research in order to decide which one I should use and I realize that my readers my find themselves in the same ordeal as well.
So, I am here to report my findings to you.
A Closer Look at Instacart
Instacart was founded back in 2012 – currently they are valued at almost 8 billion dollars.
This company functions as a same-day grocery story pickup and delivery that serves residents in Canada and the United States.
This means once you place your order for groceries, they will be delivered to you within the hour.
Instacart gives Amazon Fresh a run for the money as they source foods from the regional supermarket and personally bring everything to their customers on the same day they order.
This was how they did it before Covid-19 hit, and right now, like all of these types of solutions, they are somewhat overloaded, yet they still seem to manage.
What makes Instacart stand out from the crowd is the fact that they support a variety of neighborhood markets.
In some instances, this is going to come at a cost, because these supermarkets are the ones responsible for setting the prices, and at time, they’re majorly inflated.
Talking about food, check out Where to find Free Food, How to Get KFC Coupons, Best Time to Buy Grills, How Much Money to Spend on Groceries, Where to Get Cheap Food and even Where to get Golden Corral Coupons.
Prices of Instacart
For Instacart, when the order exceeds $35, they have a minimum of 10 without a shipping fee. There’s an optional membership that you can take part in.
The membership is called Instacart Express and it is $99 a year or $10 a month.
With the membership you will have free deliveries on orders that exceed $35.
When a non-member places an order, the service charge is 5% of the purchase, with a minimal fee of $4.
Pros of Instacart
Instacart is one of the fastest supermarket delivery services you’re going to find.
You can choose to pick your groceries up in the regional shop or have them delivered in as little as a couple of weeks.
Instacart is currently serving over 4,000 cities and they provide over 15,000 shops – they are partnered with more than 300 retailers.
Cons of Instacart
Regardless of how good a company is, there are going to be some complaints.
And in this case, we found some reviewers saying that the pricing could be greater than the store costs, and even greater than Amazon Fresh (that’s a one-up for Amazon Fresh).
Some people also state that there are items that are frequently missing or strange substitutions.
Personally, I don’t mind odd substitutions, because sometimes, I get new stuff to try (stuff I wouldn’t have normally tried) and find that I found something new that I like.
So, while to some, getting strange substitutions may be a con, substitutions, for me, are a bit on the exciting side.
Also See: Ways to Save Money from Wages and Ways to Lower Household Costs.
Who Would Like Instacart
Instacart is best for those shoppers who don’t have an Amazon Prime account and are searching for a reliable grocery delivery service.
It is great for people who want to avoid going out in public and have groceries safely delivered to their door.
Instacart has a large network of merchants to choose from, so there are much more choices than what the average supermarket carries, so if you like variety, Instacart will become your best friend.
A Closer Look at Amazon Fresh
On the other side, we have Amazon Fresh, which is available in select cities.
They give people an opportunity to search for grocery, essentials and so much more.
Again, this company has paid $25+ million to members:
SurveyJunkie (only USA, Canada, Australia residents allowed). You can earn money sharing your thoughts. They have already paid $25+ million to their 20+ million members just for sharing their thoughts and opinions. Click here to join SurveyJunkie for FREE
Amazon Fresh offers Unattended Shipping and Attended Delivery, with pickup choices in certain towns.
In the past six months, as you could imagine, Amazon Fresh has transformed into one of the best online grocery delivery services.
It used to offer a separate subscription, but in 2019, the supermarket became available to the traditional Prime subscription members.
Amazon Fresh Prices
As of right now, as long as you have a Prime membership, which you probably already have (because who here doesn’t have Amazon Prime already), then Amazon Fresh is free to you.
There’s no longer an extra membership required to have groceries delivered straight to your doorstep.
In case you really don’t already have a Prime membership, the membership is $119 a year or $12.99 a month.
Delivery is free as long as your order is $35 or more. Orders that are under $45 will have a $10 fee if you choose the 1-hour shipping time or a $6 charge if you choose the 2-hour shipping time.
Also See: Shipt Vs Instacart.
Pros of Amazon Fresh
If you already have Amazon Prime, then you are going to have access to Amazon Fresh right away.
As for the delivery time for Amazon Fresh, the delivery will be between 1-2 hours (depending on the option you went with) from the time you made the purchase.
With Amazon Fresh, many times, you won’t have to experience unavailable items. While Instacart asks that you substitute items in order to make sure you get something when what you need is unreachable.
Spicy foods such as chips or snacks are 10 to 30 percent less costly than Instacart.
In a lot of the regions, the grocery costs are on par with the national grocery rates, but there are some things (like dairy and legumes) that may be costly, which could result in a higher invoice than in-store grocery shopping would give you.
Prices for Instacart have a tendency to be lower than Amazon Fresh prices.
Also See: Side Hustles for Women and Side Hustles for Men.
Cons of Amazon Fresh
In order to avoid the shipping fee, you will need to reach $35 or less per order. If you do not reach this quota, then you will be charged an additional $10 as a shipping fee.
Another con is that Amazon Fresh doesn’t deliver to every single city.
So, you may not be in an area that Amazon Fresh delivers to.
Amazon Fresh provides to people in:
- Baltimore
- Boston
- Stamford
- Seattle
- Chicago
- Philadelphia
- New York Metro
- Dallas
- London
- California
- New Jersey
- Northern Virginia
Who Would Like Amazon Fresh?
Amazon Fresh is great for any individual with a Prime membership who lives in the town Amazon Fresh delivers to.
If you have an Amazon Prime account, then you already have access to Amazon Fresh.
If you’re a regular Amazon customer already, then you are probably knowledgeable about the site and know just how simple the buying process is.
Browsing the site is also simple, so everything from A to B is easy. Plus, you probably already have the app on your mobile device, so you’re ready to go.
If you already have Amazon Prime, there’s no need to jump through some hoops and sign up for something before you start getting groceries right away.
How about Missing Items with Amazon Fresh and Instacart?
The two Instacart and amazon will sometimes neglect to include your specific items in the delivery.
Yes, you save time, save money on gas and energy because you don’t have to drive to the grocery store, but having to reach out to a firm with back and forth communication due to an unshipped item can ruin a day.
Amazon Fresh Vs Instacart – Which one is Better?
When it comes to Amazon Fresh Vs Instacart, deciding which one is better than the other is a tough decision.
Both of them do great jobs and deliver on their promise to provide fast and fresh products.
If something goes wrong, you have to turn to customer support and both of them offer top of the line customer support.
When it comes down to picking one over the other, I would have to go with Amazon Fresh.
Mind you, it’s not because I don’t like Instacart, they do a great job, but I’m also a Prime member, so that is beneficial to me and since I’m already a Prime member, I figure, why not go ahead and use Amazon Fresh.
I don’t care about any specific brand when it comes to food and what’s in the grocery store.
Also, having the capability to quickly determine which products have better value while online always helps me finalize my purchase and move forwards with the remainder of my day.
I don’t feel like spending what feels like hours searching through Instacart in order to determine which product I should purchase.
So, for me, Amazon Fresh is my winner!
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Conclusion
While my decision is to use Amazon Fresh, that doesn’t mean that’s going to be your decision as well.
Instacart can be a pretty good place to get your groceries. What it boils down to personal preferences and if they serve your area.
Hopefully with the information I just provided you will be able to make a more informed decision.
Again, this company has paid $25+ million to members:
SurveyJunkie (only USA, Canada, Australia residents allowed). You can earn money sharing your thoughts. They have already paid $25+ million to their 20+ million members just for sharing their thoughts and opinions. Click here to join SurveyJunkie for FREE