Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Thursday 16 May 2019
A25

On the Money: More grocers are offering delivery

By DEE-ANN DURBIN the biggest delivery opera-
Associated Press tors:
DETROIT (AP) — Want to — Instacart: Founded in
ditch the shopping cart? 2012, Instacart is now one
Grocery delivery services of the largest grocery de-
are growing rapidly, but livery services. It has part-
shoppers need to decide nerships with 20,000 stores
if the convenience is worth in 5,500 North American
the higher cost. cities, including Costco
Big companies like Amazon and Aldi. Instacart charges
and Walmart are expand- $99 for an annual subscrip-
ing grocery delivery, as are tion — or $9.99 monthly —
regional players like Fresh- which gives consumers free
Direct. Grocery chains like delivery on orders of $35 or
Kroger and Safeway are more and lets them shop
working with third party de- at warehouse stores like
livery services like Instacart BJ’s Wholesale without a
or developing their own membership. Instacart will
services. also deliver from its partner
Groceries have been slow- stores to non-members for
er to migrate online than $3.99 (or $8.99 from mem-
books, clothing and other ber-only warehouse stores)
items. Online grocery sales plus a 5% service fee.
make up 3% of the $800 bil- In this Nov. 9, 2018, file photo a sign promotes online and home delivery of groceries at a Walmart — Shipt: Shipt was launched
lion food retail market, ac- Supercenter in Houston. in 2014 and bought by Tar-
cording to a recent report Associated Press get Corp. in 2017. It deliv-
by Deutsche Bank. That’s they shop through its web- She pays $3.99 per delivery Reports, said delivery is a ers from Target and other
expected to climb to 12% site versus shopping in a plus service fees. But she’s good option for many peo- grocery stores in 260 cities.
by 2025 as services grow store. a reluctant user, partly be- ple. An annual plan is $99, al-
and stores offer more op- Haar estimates the services cause she feels Instacart “There is a cost savings in though the company was
tions, like online ordering for save her at least two hours isn’t transparent about its terms of time, if your time is recently offering a Mother’s
pickup. per week. fees. She recently paid money,” she said. Day special for $49. Mem-
Offerings vary. Customers “This is one small way to $3.69 on Instacart’s website Customers can save mon- bership includes free de-
can pay per delivery or take care of myself that is for green leaf lettuce, for ey by ordering online and livery for orders over $35.
with an annual fee. Orders so much better than a mas- example, but on the actual picking up the groceries Shipt charges $7 for orders
under $35 generally cost sage or pedicure and costs receipt from Safeway — themselves, Stanger said. under $35.
more. Some companies less,” she said. where it was purchased — That’s already a free op- — Walmart: Walmart offers
promise delivery in one or For some, grocery deliv- the lettuce cost $1.19. tion at 2,100 U.S. Walmart delivery from 1,000 stores,
two hours. Others, like Pea- ery is more than a conve- There are other downsides stores; 3,100 will have it by and plans to expand that
pod, offer next day service. nience. Maryjo Harper, a to delivery. Customers the end of this year, the to 1,600 by the end of this
Delivery during peak times retired insurance claims might miss an interesting company says. Albertsons year. It partners with third
may cost more. manager and minister who new product or a good Companies, which oper- party delivery companies
Sometimes shoppers pay lives in Wilsonville, Oregon, deal. Picky shoppers might ates Safeway and other like DoorDash. Custom-
the same price they would started using Instacart a not like what’s selected for grocery chains, offers on- ers must order at least $30
in the store. In other cases, little more than a year ago them. And some custom- line ordering and pickup worth of goods for deliv-
they pay more for each while she was recuperating ers have complained that at 250 stores. At some it’s ery. They pay the same
item to cover the process- from rotator cuff surgery. delivery drivers won’t go to a free option; at others the price they would in store.
ing cost. Shipt says mem- Harper still uses the service certain neighborhoods. company charges $3.95 or Walmart charges $7.95 (or
bers can expect to pay $5 a couple of times a month, Still, Tobie Stanger, a se- $4.95 per order. $9.95 at higher demand
more per $35 order when especially in the winter. nior editor with Consumer Here are details on some of times) to deliver.q