Shopping Delivery Services
By Alexandra W.
No more asking your neighbor for a cup of sugar.
Here are the latest and greatest shopping delivery services available to anyone with the Internet:
Amazon Prime – Amazon Prime is useful for getting free two-day shipping, access to movies and TV shows, and more. With Prime Now, users can now get free two-hour delivery on products from local stores. This means, you can now get all you need from your local grocery store without having to leave the house! At $299 per year, Prime Fresh will give you free same day delivery on purchases over $50. The downside to Prime is that you are shopping from the Amazon company and not specific stores nearby.
Google Express – This service is available for a variety of local stores—not just grocery stores! The prices are also the same as in-store. Deliveries start at $2.99 for people who have the $95 per year membership and $4.99 for other customers. Same day delivery is available so long as you send your order in early in the day. The downside to shopping on Express is that after adding one item to your cart, you must click “keep shopping” to add more products. Also, if you order from multiple stores, each store’s order will have a cart minimum and delivery fee, rather than combining all of your shopping into one trip.
Shipt – This is an app you can download on iOS or Android devices, but it can also be accessed on the web. Then, you can choose what you would like to purchase and a delivery option. The site claims that their prices may “vary slightly from in-store prices,” but if the groceries come straight to your door, a higher fee would be expected.
Instacart – Most of these online delivery services allow the customer to shop from most any device and schedule a delivery time. This is the same with Instacart. Sometimes costs vary, but the website will indicate which stores you can purchase products at the in-store price. One-hour delivery is $7.99 and two-hour or more delivery time is $5.99. Having the membership, which costs $149 per year, gives customers free two-hour deliveries for orders over $35. The website interface is user-friendly and includes many pulldown menus to find the items you are looking for.
TaskRabbit – TaskRabbit is for a variety of tasks you need completed. Services include deliveries, shopping (grocery or other), run errands, waiting in line, dropping off donations, return items, and even waiting to sign off on a delivery from another company! For any work you do not want to do, TaskRabbit is the site to find someone to do it for you. First, you describe the task you need done. Then, you get matched with the best Tasker for the job.