Two of the most profound influxes to modern society in the past several decades have been smartphones and service jobs. Smartphones have allowed a world of possibilities to suddenly be accessed at our fingertips, and service jobs have sprung up in abundance to address the many possible desires and needs that have resulted. Of these various services is one of the most popular smartphone services to have evolved in the past decade: the food delivery industry.
It has never been easier to order from your favorite café or restaurant. Now, recent changes in this industry allow users to order from grocery stores as well. For your convenience, let’s take a look at the best grocery delivery services.
Instacart
The first grocery delivery service we will be taking a closer look at is already one of the most popular food delivery service apps available on the app store right now. Instacart was developed by former Amazon employee Apoorva Mehta in 2012.
Initially launched in San Francisco, this grocery delivery service has since expanded to various cities across the United States, including Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Washington D.C. The service has even expanded to Canada, in cities like Toronto and Vancouver.
Impact and Features
As a result, Instacart is primarily viewed as the service that started the trend of grocery delivery entering the food delivery service realm. It has since continued its lead, earning roughly $3 billion in 2019 and employing over 750,000 drivers. Thus, it is fair to say that Instacart is among the most popular grocery delivery service apps available right now.
This popularity is largely due to how intuitive and engaging Instacart is compared to other grocery delivery service apps. Instacart offers same-day delivery through an easily navigable mobile or web interface. The app is particularly popular because of its inexpensive delivery fees and low minimum order amount.
Instacart delivery fees start at just $3.99, and the minimum order amount is just $10. This is far more affordable than pretty much any other option that is currently available, including many on this list.
Does Instacart Accept EBT for Grocery Delivery?
Participating Aldi and Food Lion stores in the states they can be found in accept EBT card payments through Instacart. You can use your EBT card at any participating Aldi or Food Lion stores, granted that the state that you received your EBT card in is currently participating in the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot.
Bottom Line
Ultimately, Instacart is one of the most popular grocery delivery services, and for good reason. It is also one of the most affordable and easy to use.
Amazon Fresh
While Instacart may have helped pioneer the grocery delivery service industry, established tech giants have begun taking the reins in recent years. Of these tech giants, Amazon has created the most popular grocery delivery service in Amazon Fresh, which could arguably be the face of the grocery delivery service industry to come.
Impact and Features
Amazon Fresh has been an incredibly beneficial service, not just for the consumer but also for Amazon. Amazon’s grocery delivery capacity increased by 160% during the second quarter of 2020, which was largely impacted by global lockdowns related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some experts believe that Amazon’s online grocery service could produce up to $70 billion in gross merchandise volume in just two years. This immense popularity is mainly due to Amazon’s name brand, but the service does have a lot of merit in its own right and has improved dramatically in recent years.
The minimum order for an Amazon Fresh delivery is a bit steep at $35. However, your order will be delivered for free if you surpass that $35 mark. Under $35 and you will have to pay a $10 fee, but this still makes Amazon Fresh one of the more budget friendly options available.
Additionally, Amazon changed its implementation of Amazon Fresh fairly recently so that the service was no longer separately paid for from an Amazon membership. Now, Amazon Fresh is available to all users who pay for an Amazon Prime membership.
Does Amazon Fresh Accept EBT?
You can add your SNAP EBT card to make EBT card payments through Amazon Fresh in all participating states except for Hawaii, Alaska, Louisiana, Montana, and Maine. You can use your EBT card at any participating Aldi or Food Lion store, granted that the state you received your EBT card in is currently participating in the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot.
Bottom Line
Ultimately, Amazon Fresh is one of the best grocery delivery services available today and will likely be the face of the industry from tomorrow on.
Shipt
While there are certainly many cool, trendy startups as well as established industry giants to choose from in the grocery delivery service industry, there are also cool, trendy startups that have since been acquired and integrated into an established industry giant. The primary example of this is Shipt.
Shipt started with humble beginnings in Birmingham, Alabama. The company was founded in 2014 by Bill Smith, with the intention of first targeting regions that did not have preexisting grocery delivery services. The company experienced a rush of success until, in December of 2017, it was acquired by an established industry giant, Target.
Impact and Features
This acquisition has not halted Shipt from working with other retail grocery stores. In fact, Shipt still offers deliveries from many other grocery stores and various retail stores such as:
- Kroger
- Safeway
- Roche Bros
- Publix
- Office Depot
Still, Target has certainly used Shipt to benefit its own delivery practices, which will be detailed further in a subsequent section.
This is to say that Shipt is still its own grocery delivery service with its own merits and demerits. One of those merits is its less expensive delivery fee for orders under $35 when compared to Amazon Fresh. Although it is only a $3 difference, these costs can add up especially considering groceries are at least a weekly, sometimes even daily, affair.
Shipt also offers an annual or monthly membership, which costs $99 per year or $14 per month. This membership allows you to communicate with your designated shopper and gives you access to free delivery on orders that come in at over $35.
Does Shipt Accept EBT?
Shipt does not currently accept EBT card payments through its service. The service claims this is due to current USDA restrictions and apologizes for the inconvenience.
Bottom Line
Ultimately, Shipt may not be on the same level as Instacart or Amazon Fresh, but it is certainly a worthy competitor.
Fresh Direct
While Instacart may have pioneered grocery delivery services, the popular app was far from the first online grocery delivery service. One online grocery delivery service that can certainly say they were among the first online grocery delivery services to have ever been borne into existence is Fresh Direct.
Fresh Direct was founded back in 1999, before smartphones or app stores were even a remote concept. The company’s goal, while delivering groceries to consumers from the comfort of their homes, was to emphasize organic and locally sourced food.
While Fresh Direct was not technically the first company to attempt an online grocery delivery service (that title goes to Webvan), Fresh Direct is certainly the first successful online grocery delivery service. In fact, after several hiccups in its early stages, Fresh Direct continues to deliver groceries to this day, with a fleet of more than 300 vehicles.
Impact and Features
If you are wondering why the name Fresh Direct does not sound familiar to you at all, that may be due to location. Fresh Direct primarily delivers in East Coast locations such as Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and New York City. So, there is a downside in that you may not be able to access Fresh Direct depending on your location.
Still, if you can access Fresh Direct, their prices are certainly comparable to others included on this list. The minimum order you can place on Fresh Direct is $30, and delivery fees start at around $6. You can even get unlimited free deliveries if you sign up for their membership, DeliveryPass, which costs $79 per six months and $129 per year.
Does Fresh Direct Accept EBT?
Participating Aldi and Food Lion stores in the states they can be found in accept EBT card payments through Fresh Direct. You can use your EBT card at any participating Aldi or Food Lion store, granted that the state that you received your EBT card in is currently participating in the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot.
Bottom Line
Ultimately, Fresh Direct may not be the most accessible option depending on where you live. However, if you can access it, Fresh Direct is an excellent, unique grocery delivery service option that prioritizes organic and locally sourced food.
Walmart Grocery
While many of the options on this list thus far have been excellent, trendy startups, it is worth noting the established industry giants that have similarly exploded onto the online grocery delivery scene. One of the most popular and heralded of these online grocery delivery services belongs to Walmart.
Walmart’s online grocery delivery service is actually a relatively recent addition to the massive corporation’s business plan. Due to the lasting impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, Walmart expanded its curbside pickup option in 2020 that it had launched just several years prior to include most of its in-store items.
Impact and Features
Walmart’s online grocery delivery service may be a fairly recent addition to the industry, but that indeed has not stopped it from making its mark. In fact, Walmart Grocery is arguably the most successful of all the online grocery delivery services as of 2021.
In a recent Shopperscape survey published by Winsight Grocery Business, it was revealed that Walmart Grocery possesses far and away the most significant portion of online grocery shoppers, with roughly 48 percent of them using Walmart’s pickup and delivery services.
In contrast, only 36 percent of all online grocery shoppers use Amazon Fresh, which is included in every Amazon Prime subscription and includes its Whole Foods Prime Now service. This is largely due to Walmart’s accessibility in all regions of the United States. Walmart has particularly keyed in on rural America, which is largely untapped by other online services.
Does Walmart Accept EBT for Online Grocery Delivery?
Participating Walmart stores in the states they can be found in accept EBT card payments through Walmart Grocery. You can use your EBT card at any participating Walmart store, granted that the state that you received your EBT card in is currently participating in the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot.
It is worth noting that some states may require that you use your EBT card at the store for pickup rather than through the online checkout service.
Bottom Line
Ultimately, while services like Amazon Fresh may be the future of online grocery delivery services, Walmart Grocery is the current leader in this industry. Walmart’s success is mostly due to its accessibility and marketing in rural America.
Target
While many of the established industry giants included on this list have found their own way to deliver groceries to their loyal customer base, Target has chosen to integrate a former competitor into their business. Thus, much of Target’s history is intertwined with that of their acquired partner, Shipt.
Shipt started with humble beginnings in Birmingham, Alabama. The company was founded in 2014 by Bill Smith with the intention of first targeting regions that did not have preexisting grocery delivery services. The company experienced a rush of success until, in December of 2017, it was acquired by an established industry giant, Target.
Target had existing online delivery services prior to this acquisition, but these services were vastly improved once Shipt was integrated.
Impact and Features
While Target does still utilize its small in-house delivery program, which is currently available in a few major cities, most of its grocery delivery is handled through Shipt. This partnership benefits more than just Target. Through Target, users can receive deliveries with Shipt without having to purchase a Shipt membership, which costs roughly $9.99.
Still, becoming a Shipt member and ensuring that all of your orders meet the $35 threshold for free shipping is the most cost-effective way to use the service. Additionally, for those that are not interested in the delivery aspect of online grocery delivery services, Target still offers curbside pickup and in-store pickup to its customers.
Does Target Accept EBT for Grocery Delivery?
While Target does accept EBT card payments at any of their locations in-store, they do not currently accept EBT cards for their online delivery services. This is due to their partnership with Shipt, which does not currently accept EBT card payments through its service. The service claims this is due to current USDA restrictions and apologizes for the inconvenience.
Bottom Line
Ultimately, Target does not stand out among the industry giants who have already made their mark in the online grocery delivery service industry. Still, their partnership with Shipt certainly makes them a strong competitor.
Peapod
Peapod is not just one of the earliest examples of an online grocery store; it is actually one of the earliest internet startups in general. Peapod was founded in 1989 by Thomas and Andrew Parkinson, who still remain executive officers of the company to this day. The company is based in Chicago, but it is currently owned by a Netherlands-based company called Ahold Delhaize.
Impact and Features
Peapod is unique in that it technically serves as the grocery store, even though it is entirely online. There are no brick-and-mortar Peapod stores. Peapod is fairly intuitive to use, and its prices are fairly affordable.
This online grocery delivery service’s delivery fees range from $6.95 to $8.95, which is pretty standard compared to other leading platforms. Unfortunately, most of their delivery must be done next-day, although they offer same-day delivery in some areas.
Peapod is generally available in major cities, making it less accessible for those in more rural areas.
Does Peapod Accept EBT?
Peapod does not currently accept EBT card payments through its service. The service claims this is due to current USDA restrictions and apologizes for the inconvenience.
Bottom Line
Ultimately, Peapod is not the most accessible choice for those in rural areas or the most functional choice for those who are looking for same-day delivery. However, its low prices and unique, intuitive interface make it an option worth looking into.
Final Thoughts
The food delivery service industry may not sound like the most exciting innovation to be borne from smartphones and a rising service industry. However, groceries are a major, consistent market that is evolving before our very eyes.
It has never been easier to order from your favorite café or restaurant, which is the way we expect things to be in this day and age. Ultimately, we live in a world where people’s desires come with an immediate entitlement to receive. Thus, companies that play into this notion the best will be rewarded justly. So, sit back, relax, and allow your bread, milk, and everything else on your shopping list to come to you.
