Considering the recent global coronavirus outbreak, online grocery and food services have been experiencing more demand than ever. Major cities from Los Angeles to New York are effectively all but closed, with people only allowed to leave their houses for essentials. Even though we are amidst a global shutdown, one must still eat!
From Amazon Fresh to Instacart plus a plethora of local restaurants, it’s no surprise grocery and food deliveries have seen the highest demand increases in their history. Quarantined households are enjoying the added convenience and efficiency of having fresh food delivered to their doorstep. In normal times, these services are often delivered within hours but due to the extremely high-volume, completed orders typically range from 1 to 7 business days. Even with the elongated wait, this is not deterring usage, especially when you can get your alcohol delivered right alongside your produce and bread without ever leaving the house.
In order to help you navigate through all the different options, we summarized some of the best delivery services currently available. As you read through this article, you should note that processing orders are becoming increasingly longer. You should expect to encounter warnings like “Due to high demand, items may be unavailable or delayed.” Although frustrating, this should not deter you to give it a try. The goal here is to stay home and stay safe as much as possible.
Amazon Fresh
Amazon Fresh offers virtually all grocery items for sale, as well as a subset of items from Whole Foods. Items ordered through Amazon Fresh are available for home delivery on the same day or the next day, depending on the time of the order and the availability of trucks.
You’ll need to have an Amazon Prime account to access Amazon Fresh. In eligible areas, if you spend $35 to $50 on groceries, you can receive delivery on your perishable items.
Click here to see if Amazon Fresh is available in your area.
PeaPod
Peapod, a subsidiary of Stop & Shop, is an online grocery and has operations in 24 U.S. urban markets. They are one of the largest online grocery delivery stores in the United States.
Peapod normally allows customers to shop online for groceries, and then gives a choice of pickup or delivery. But the pickup option, which costs $2.95 per order, is suspended for the time being. Peapod online grocery delivery fees are normally $9.95 per order, though you can save $3 by selecting certain delivery times.
Before placing your order on Peapod, you can check availability on the top righthand corner of the site. This is where you can see if delivery is available to your address, and then find out if any delivery slots are open any time over the next two weeks.
Shipt
Shipt is a delivery service owned by Target Corporation, which specializes in delivery of groceries, home products, and select electronics. Shipt facilitates same-day delivery from various retailers to its members through either a smartphone app, available on iOS and Android platforms, or via their website.
There is generally a $35 minimum purchase, and the delivery fee is $9.99. You can also sign up for a free four-week of Shipt, Target’s same-day grocery service, and get unlimited deliveries for free. After the free trial, Shipt costs $99 per year, similar to the Amazon prime membership program.
Instacart
Arguably the most popular app, customers can shop for groceries through their mobile app or website from the company’s more than 350 national, regional and local retailer partners. Some of the major affiliates are Albertsons, CVS, Krogers, BJS, Costco and Publix.
Right now, you may need to schedule a delivery five days or so into the future to get a delivery window, though same-day slots are sometimes still available.
Instacart app is available in the Apple iTunes Store and Google Playstore.
Local Restaurants
To curb the coronavirus pandemic, several state governments have mandated the closure of restaurants, bars, and other small businesses. As the hospitality industry navigates the crisis, you can still support your local restaurants by implementing their special delivery or curbside pickup. Iavarone’s Café located in Plainview NY, is a great example of how a small restaurant is adapting to the new way of business. They are offering curbside pickup. Simply place your order and call when your outside with the make and model of your car. The friendly staff will put your order in the trunk at no additional cost.
Bottom Line
As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the globe, these delivery apps have begun seeing record numbers of daily downloads, according to new data from app store intelligence firm Apptopia. Online grocery apps, including Instacart and Shipt, hit yet another new record for daily downloads for their respective apps. Recently, in one day Instacart saw more than 38,500 downloads.
Online grocery deliveries are no question a great way to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether you’re using them right now when life is upside down or are planning to use them in the future, there’s no doubt they can save you a ton of time.
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