Grocery stores are one of the few businesses deemed ‘essential’ during this pandemic. In this new age of maintaining social distancing, leaders and government officials recommend staying home as much as possible to flatten the curve.
Grocery stores have done their best to sanitize grocery carts/baskets, limit the amount of people in the store and offer special shopping hours for seniors and at-risk groups during coronavirus pandemic. Still in an average crowded grocery store, it can be challenging to keep six feet of space between everyone.
When you consider these factors, it might be a great idea for seniors and high at-risk groups to order their groceries online. Here’s a list of resources to order your groceries online.
Shipt
Shipt offers an $99 for annual membership and $14 for monthly membership which can be canceled at any time. There’s free delivery on any order over $35. Orders under $35 have a $7 delivery fee. There’s no extra charge for ordering during a busy time. There’s no minimal order amount either.
Some of the stores listed on Shipt include:
- CVS
- Petco
- Target
- Smiths
- Vons
Instacart
Instacart offers two types of delivery services. You can pay an average of between $3.99 and $8.99 per delivery or enroll in their unlimited delivery membership. The membership is called Instacart Express, and with it you’ll get free grocery deliveries for all orders over $35. It costs $99 a year, after a two-week free trial. If you opt out of doing the Instacart Express, the delivery fee depends on the size of your order and the delivery time that you choose. The fee for each delivery will be displayed when selecting a delivery window during checkout, before you place your order. You might encounter an extra charge for ordering during a busy time or one that requires a heavy lift. Instacart also offers a pickup option for participating stores, there’s a curbside pickup fee that varies per retailer from free to $4.99. The pickup option is free for those with the Instacart Express membership. Keep in mind that all orders for Instacart must be $10 or more.
Some of the stores listed on Instacart include:
- Sprouts
- Costco
- Sam’s Club
- Natural Grocers
- Albertsons
- Smiths
Walmart
Walmart offers unlimited delivery membership. It’s called Delivery Unlimited, a membership that cost $12.95 a month or $98 per year. and with it you’ll get free grocery deliveries for all orders over $30. If you opt out of doing the Delivery Unlimited, the delivery fee is usually $9.95 per order. Right now, it’s nearly impossible to place an online delivery order, but depending on where your nearest Walmart store it is possible to order your groceries online for pickup at no extra charge. You’ll be able to pick a time slot that works best with you and Walmart associate will do the shopping for you and bring the groceries to your car.
Whole Foods
Whole Foods offers delivery and pickup options, the service is only available to Amazon Prime subscribers. Prime membership generally costs $12.99 per month or $119 per year, and new subscribers are eligible for a 30-day free trial. If available, you can get one-hour delivery, and the delivery fee will be charged based on the order’s subtotal. Plus, you can get free two-hour delivery of grocery orders of $35 or more. For orders over $35, you can select the Free Pickup window as soon as 1 hour after checkout. If your order is less than $35 or you choose to pick up as soon as 30 minutes after checkout, a pickup fee will be charged.
Other grocery stores that offer the pickup option include Albertsons, Smith’s, and Von’s.
