Well, I tried something different this past week and it didn’t go so well. But now I know, right?
I wanted to get my groceries delivered on Friday and didn’t order until Thursday night. By then, all the grocery Kroger blue truck delivery slots were full and the only option was to get my groceries delivery via Instacart.
If you are new to Kroger Boost, you pay a one-time yearly fee (I got a deal and got it for $39) and then you get free delivery to your door for an entire year. Here’s what I’ve learned: some areas offer fulfillment by Kroger Delivery and some areas offer fulfillment by Instacart and some areas offer both.
If you have your order fulfilled by the Kroger delivery truck, tipping is not allowed AND you’ll get offered flash sales when you go to order (you can get up to 10 of each item and some of the flash sales are really good!)
If your order is fulfilled by Instacart, you don’t pay a delivery fee still, but you do want to leave a tip. And there are no flash sales offered.
I decided to go ahead and pay the tip (I did the suggested amount of $10) and forego the flash sales because I really wanted to have my order in hand by Friday. I figured paying someone $10 to do my shopping and deliver my groceries was a pretty good deal.
But I ended up not being a fan of the experience. For one, I missed the flash sales at checkout and I got less bang for my buck because of paying a tip. BUT, the biggest thing was that so many items I ordered didn’t arrive and were marked “out of stock”. I have never had this happen with the Kroger delivery truck. It felt like the Instacart shopper wasn’t familiar with the store or just didn’t know where to look. Because most of the items were basic things that I can’t imagine would be out of stock!
So word to the wise: use the Kroger delivery service AND make sure to order early enough in the week that they will still have delivery slots left for Friday (if you clip the 4x Fuel Points coupon and have a Kroger Boost membership, you’ll get 5x fuel points if your order is delivered on Friday!)
What We Ate for Dinner This Past Week:
Scrambled Eggs, Strawberries (Jesse and Silas were at an out-of-town baseball game and Kaitlynn was working).
Sausage/Potatoes/Sweet Potatoes (I made it on the stove top as an experiment and it took longer and turned out mushier. I recommend just sticking with the slow cooker or making it on a sheet pan in the oven.)
Fend For Yourself Night (Kaitlynn and Silas were both gone, so Jesse had cereal, the little kids had a snacky dinner, and I think I had a sandwich.)
Chicken, Steamed Veggies, Tater Tots
Leftovers Marinated Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Homemade French Bread, Steamed Veggies
My sister, Gretchen, recommended this Homemade French Bread recipe to me and I was SO impressed with it. It was so easy to make and it turned out delicious!! I will definitely be making it again!
I was excited about the Tyson Chicken deal as we love that for quick meals. Unfortunately, I only received 2 bags and the other three I ordered were marked “out of stock”.
Cereal was on sale buy 2, get 3 free, which made for a pretty good deal.
Chicken breasts were Buy One, Get One Free and the deli meats were $3.49 per package.
All totaled, including tax and a $10 tip, my order was $118.27
Melissa says
I don’t have a Kroger here but I have a store that does grocery pick up (order online and they bring it to your car). I’ve noticed a huge difference in male and female shoppers. In my experience, females are more likely to shop around and find what you ordered or a good substitute, while male shoppers are quicker to say something is out of stock. I’m sure this is not always the case. I know some men that are great shoppers and great chefs. But this has definitely been my experience at my local grocery store.
Nicole says
I haven’t used the intsacart delivery options For our Kroger affiliate because the tip isn’t usually worth it for me (no judgement, there are definitely times it would be), but I know one major difference for us that that the Kroger delivery comes from a distro center and not a store so I usually have fewer subs than if I order pick up and the produce has generally been better.
I don’t use it any more for a variety of reasons but we used to do Instacart pick up at sprouts and they were pretty good, but they were definitely filled by store employees.
Crystal Paine says
I think there’s a huge difference in your experience when it’s store employees vs. instacart employees!
Vanessa says
I’m so sorry you had not the best experience with Instacart. We too have not had very good experiences with Instacart. When we had ordered from stores where the employees shop, it’s wonderful. This has included Kroger Pick Up, Target Pick Up, Walmart Pick Up and Delivery. However, if it is fulfilled with Instacart it is more trouble than it’s worth and more expensive and then we have never gotten what we’ve ordered. It’s very weird. Thanks for sharing your Kroger delivery experiences! I’ve been curious about it!
Crystal Paine says
I’ve only used them a few times and have yet to have a good experience. But yes to Kroger delivery! I’ve been so impressed so far!!
Courtney Otto says
Kroger is amazing and while we have a Kroger affiliate we love – Bakers, we don’t have the Kroger Boost delivery option. Like others, our Boost delivery is through Instacart. After reading how much you loved the delivery through Boost, I decided to give it a try and see how Instacart compared. It was not worth the hassle. I spent way too much time dealing with substitutions, out of stock items, and being overcharged for items because the shopper bought the wrong items that weren’t on sale. I’m glad i tried it because at least i know doing my own shopping is worth it. It would be wonderful to have a Kroger store with delivery and all the extras like the flash sales. I am thankful though that our Kroger affiliate, Bakers has great clearance sales all throughout the store and they have the best weekly sales too. So that helps!!
Crystal Paine says
YAY for a great Kroger affiliate!!
Jeni says
$10 for someone to shop for you AND deliver it? That’s a lot of work. No one can make a living on that.
Crystal Paine says
Oh, I realized I should clarify: because I have Kroger Boost, Kroger pays the Instacart shoppers to shop. They just give you the option to add a tip. I added the suggested amount which was $10. I hope that helps to clarify!
Carrie says
I looked at an Instacart forum on Reddit and an insta driver posted that they do not get any additional pay for Boost orders compared to other Instacart orders, which is practically nothing (they said $7 but I don’t know if that varies regionally).
Yet another reason you’re right to prefer to use Kroger’s drivers. They don’t get paid much either but at least they don’t have to provide their own vehicle and gas.
Crystal Paine says
Oh yikes! Good to know!!
Liane says
I’d love to only spend that amount be we don’t eat much in the way of processed food. Cooking from scratch takes longer but but there’s less packaging and waste. The only cereal we eat is rolled oats. We eat a lot of yogurt and a lot of fruit and try to get meat from non-commercial sources. I did instacart with a Sprouts shopper and he was wonderful. Some stores have their own shoppers and use instacart as the processor. No Kroger in Calif where we are. We have big box lousy quality stores ranging from Winco and Target (bad quality) to Whole Foods which is exorbitant. I am not a fan of Walmart since I learned first hand they let dogs in. Boy dogs do what boy dogs do and I saw it! Maybe another store would work better?
Crystal Paine says
We used to eat a lot less processed foods, but as my kids have gotten older, I let them make more choices in what they eat. We actually spend more with them eating processed foods, but it’s important for me that they are taking ownership of this area in their life and that I’m buying foods that they love and enjoy! So be encouraged, there are many ways to save money if you eat differently. I hope what I share here can inspire you to look for ways to save that work for your family!
Jennifer says
I just tried a Boost free trial and did two Delivery orders in that time frame. Hated it. It must be that our only option is Instacart because even when I ordered Wednesday for Friday that was the only option I was given. Jealous that you have access to Kroger delivery. We are a Kroger affiliated store (Frys), maybe that’s why.
It caused me more stress to sit on my phone and answer their million sub notes and say “Nope, that wasn’t what I wanted”, even with my very detailed notes (like: sub with any GLUTEN FREE cracker, and they subbed with a regular cracker) that the experience was not positive for me at all. And I didn’t like that they couldn’t sub out but give you the sale price like Clicklist can. It seems like the people who do Clicklist that actually work for the store have a much better understanding of sales, items and needs than the ones who do Instacart.
RRobinson says
Our experience is that most of the Instacart shoppers are not willing to put in extra effort. We are using Boost right now for a variety of reasons in this season and we often do not get our items because they are out of stock. I have had one FABULOUS Instacart shopper that went above and beyond what she had to do but just one. There are probably more but our experience has not shown that to be true. I wish we had the Kroger blue truck!
Carrie says
If I was shopping for Instacart I don’t feel like I could afford to take the time to put in extra effort. As it is if there is no tip or a small tip Instacart shoppers probably lose money on an order/
.