How To Compare and Choose Instacart Vs Amazon Fresh in 2024 and Prices
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If you’re a grocery shopper looking for convenience, or if you’re interested in earning extra income while on the go, two of the most popular options today are Instacart and Amazon Fresh. But how do you decide which one is right for your particular situation? This blog post will help you evaluate each option's pros and cons so that by the end, you'll feel confident making an informed decision between Instacart vs Amazon Fresh in 2024!
Amazon Fresh and Instacart are both grocery delivery services that you can use to order household essentials and groceries online and have them delivered to you. Both companies can make door-to-door deliveries and provide customers with the option of picking up their purchases.
If you're ready to place an online grocery order, you should first understand how the two platforms work.
You do not need a membership in order to use Instacart. You can use Instacart services by downloading the app available on iOS and Android devices or using a web interface.
The first step to use the Instacart platform is to create an account by completing the registration form.
Instacart allows you to order groceries from a wide selection of local grocery stores in your area. Once you’ve added all of your groceries to your cart, you can pay by choosing your favorite payment method including debit or credit card, Paypal and SNAP via an EBT card. A personal shopper will shop and deliver your order.
Using the Instacart app you can get same day delivery and select your delivery time. Additionally you can track your order in real time.
Amazon Fresh is an online grocery delivery service offered by Amazon that provides customers with same-day or next-day deliveries of groceries from local stores such as Whole Foods Market and more.
To use it, customers must be Prime members who live in certain cities where the service is available — which currently includes major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle and more — or sign up for a free trial to gain access to the program for 90 days.
After the trial period ends users can join Amazon Fresh for an additional fee of $14.99 per month plus taxes applied to their Prime subscription cost (which varies depending on where you live).
This fee gives users access to both same-day deliveries from select stores as well as next day shipping for all other products not available for same-day delivery in their area — including items like pet supplies or household goods that might not normally be found in a local grocery store.
Amazon fresh pickup is available in selected locations. Depending on your region, if you choose the in store pickup option, your order will be ready to pick up at the Whole Foods market location near you.
If you are curious and want to know who delivers Amazon Fresh orders, they are delivered by Amazon Fresh drivers who are independent contractors working for the Seattle headquartered company.
Now that you find out how Amazon Fresh delivery works you can understand the main difference between Amazon Fresh and Instacart.
While Amazon Fresh is only available for Prime members, Instacart is available for everyone who can freely create an account, shop from the app and get the order delivered.
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Which has the best availability? Both services have worked on widening their availability in recent years.
But, when it comes to which company has a bigger geographical coverage, the answer is Instacart.
Instacart is currently available in more than 5,500 cities in the United States and Canada.
Amazon Fresh delivery areas include the following cities of the United States:Atlanta, Baltimora, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC.
Amazon prime grocery delivery services has currently expanded to major cities around the world including: Berlin, Hamburg, London, Milan, Munich, Rome, Tokyo, and some other locations in Singapore and India.
We suggest you check if Amazon Fresh is available in your area.
If the Amazon Fresh delivery is not available in your area you have to opt out for other services like Instacart or DoorDash.
Amazon and Instacart both feature thousands of items. You have access to a lot of products including dairy products, meat and seafood, fresh produce, canned goods. However, when it comes to product choices, Instacart claims the advantage with over 40,000 stores national regional and local retailer partners including:
The latter also includes deliveries from multiple stores.
On the Amazon Fresh supermarket you can find a mix of their own store brands like Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods, additionally, you can find other name brands.
Additionally, Instacart is one of the best alcohol delivery apps. On the online store you will find the best selection of drinks, champagne, whisky, vodka, gin, rum, spirits, beers, cider and ales…
On the Fresh platform alcoholic beverages are only available in select locations.
When comparing the costs of Instacart and Amazon Fresh, there are a few factors to consider.
First, Instacart charges a delivery fee for each order. This fee varies depending on the time of day that you order and your location. For instance, orders placed between 6am-10am have a higher delivery fee than those placed after 10am. The amount may also be affected by where you live; cities with larger populations will generally have higher delivery fees as well. Delivery fees range from $3-$10 depending on these factors. Additionally, if your order total is under $35, there is an additional minimum order fee of $7.99 added to your total.
Second, Instacart offers a membership program at an annual cost of $99 per year ($9.99 per month). With this program you get free delivery on all orders over $35 and exclusive discounts on select items from certain stores. You also get access to exclusive deals and promotions only available to Express members throughout the year.
Tips are not included in the cost of the order. The San Francisco headquartered company will not require you to tip… As always tipping is a gesture to say thanks to the shoppers for their work. Instacart workers are independent contractors, they earn approximately $14 per hour.
On the other hand, Amazon Fresh offers free delivery for Prime members with no additional fees or membership programs required. However, in some locations there is a minimum order requirement of $35 or more in order to qualify for free delivery and in others it’s just a flat rate fee based upon distance from Amazon’s warehouses. Depending on which city you live in and what specific items you purchase, the cost associated with Amazon Fresh could be more expensive than Instacart given their requirements and restrictions in certain areas regarding qualifying orders for free shipping and/or minimum order prices.
In terms of what you get for your money when using either service, both offer similar product selections including grocery items such as produce, dairy products, meat products, deli items and packaged goods as well as household essentials like cleaning supplies and paper products.
However, Amazon Fresh allows customers to shop from their selection of Whole Foods Market products while Instacart does not offer access to any specialty stores such as directly through their platform (although they do partner with most local supermarkets).
Additionally Amazon Fresh has recently integrated Prime Pantry into their system allowing customers to shop for pantry staples like snacks or canned goods at discounted prices which Instacart does not offer yet either making it one more advantage towards shopping via Amazon Fresh instead of Instacart's services when trying to find the best value option overall considering both services’ price points combined with what they offer access too regarding selection options across multiple product categories that customers might need in their baskets during one single shopping visit online..
The final major difference between the two services is that while both allow users to shop online via desktop computer or mobile device (using either web browser app or mobile app), only AmazonFresh gives customers the opportunity to shop using Alexa voice commands due its integration with smart home devices such as Echo Dot while Instacart currently doesn’t support voice shopping yet although they plan on introducing this feature sometime within 2020 according rumors around different tech news outlets lately..
Overall when comparing pricing points between Instacart & AmazonFresh plus taking into consideration everything included within each service offering along its features & selection benefits versus drawbacks & restrictions associated that comes along with each respective provider taking into account all previously mentioned variables mentioned throughout this article; it appears that when looking for the best overall value proposition between them both then opting towards utilizing AmazonFresh seems more beneficial in terms of convenience & savings considering everything considered together within this comparison review .
| Plan | Price | Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Instacart Non Member | - | 2 hours delivery window with a delivery fee starting at $3.99 |
| Instacart Members | $9.99/month or $99 per year | Lower service fees 5% credit back on pickup |
| Amazon Prime | $12.99/month or $119/year | Free 2 hours delivery |
| Amazon Prime Student | $6.49/month or $59/year | Free 2 hours delivery |
When using grocery delivery apps, you can minimize the cost of the service by using the pickup option or ordering from the cheapest delivery app out there. But which one is cheapest?
If you want to find the best prices while shopping your groceries online, the best advice we can share with you is to always compare prices.
Comparing prices you will get the best deal out there.
Instacart offers users an easy way to earn credit that can be used for online purchases via their referral program.
Indeed, every Instacart user can earn a referral bonus by referring friends, family members, or even strangers.
👀 Related Article: Is Instacart Down
When it comes to online food shopping, customer service is more important than price.
Keep in mind that Amazon has developed a logistics platform with strong abilities. Amazon orders are rarely late.
Customer satisfaction is a priority for Amazon. During the past years Jeff Bezos company has taken the philosophy of truly caring for the customer and ushered it into the digital era.
Amazon customers can easily contact the Amazon customer support 24/7 via email, live chat or call.
Instacart currently offers phone support only to seniors.
However, the app allows you to report a problem on order or get help from the Care support directly from the app.
Amazon is a customer-centric company and Instacart has to make some efforts to reach the Amazon level. In the absence of any other big differences in Instacart's favor, we have to give this one to Amazon.
Winner: Amazon
Here are other important things to consider before deciding which service you should use.
Occasionally, shoppers are unable to buy items because the availability changes after you check out.
At this point it is important to know that while Instacart allows you to choose your own replacement for products missing in store, Amazon Fresh automatically finds replacements with similar products.
Of course your payment method won't be charged for any unavailable items.
Additionally, only the Instacart app allows you to chat and connect with your Shopper during the shopping and delivery process.
As a user, I believe that this is an important feature that allows you to add instructions or changes to your order and even to get more information about a recommended replacement.
Amazon and Instacart offer job opportunities to 1099 contractors. However they differ slightly in requirements, Instacart requires that you be at least 18 years old, while you have to be at least 21 years old to apply for Amazon.
To apply for both companies, you have to be able to pass a background check, have car insurance and a driver’s license.
A lot of rideshare drivers feeling unsafe when doing their job during the pandemic switched to delivery jobs.
Currently there is a long waiting list to join Amazon.
Working for Instacart you can earn an average of $14/hr. You can maximize your earnings following our tips. Additionnally you will be able to cash out your earnings daily.
After comparing these two grocery delivery services, Instacart is a better option than Amazon simply because it currently offers delivery from a wide number of stores. However, if you are an Amazon user subscribing to Prime and get the perk to get Amazon Fresh delivered to you for free in two hours it is worth it. If you do not use Amazon regularly, it may not be worth paying for a full-price membership. Instacart has lower or no membership costs at all.
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