What it's Like Being an Instacart Shopper ;)

This blog is for me to share the pros and cons of working for Instacart. I am writing this blog because I want to, and because you guys picked it. This blog is not to bring popularity to the industry. I will give you guys examples of what the app looks like. I plan on also giving you tips on how to succeed as a shopper. Let the fun begin!

When I think about Instacart, the first thing I think about is freedom. I love it!!! This job is extremely fun, and exciting. If you love to shop, this is the job for you.

I applied to work for Instacart my freshman year of college. However, I started the job in May 2020. I was working as a cashier in a supermarket when I started. I left the supermarket because I felt that the pros of being an Instacart Shopper were greater than me being a cashier.

Why I Love Instacart

• Flexibility: Guys, when I tell you this, you have to believe me. You are basically your own boss. You work whenever you want. You start and end whenever you want. You work for how many hours you want. You decide what days you want to work and which ones you don't. It is the perfect job for college and high school students, because you make your own schedule without needing to consult anyone.

• Earnings: Man, you make money in Instacart. I love this job because the customers tip extremely well and so does Instacart. In one order, that can take me 1 to 2 hours to complete, I can make up to $70 dollars. The other day I got an order of $96 dollars, and then it increased to $97.96. It took me about 2 hours to complete. The customer gave me a $72.63 dollar tip. This week I did one order in between my classes, it took me about an hour and a half and I made about $62.59 dollars. A normal day for me from 8 am - 3 pm, I make around $200 - $300 dollars.

• Communication: You will meet a lot of people. Everyday you meet someone different. This is when good communication skills come in handy. In order for you to succeed in Instacart, you need to communicate with your customers a lot. You need to let them know if the product that they want is not available and if they want a replacement for it. I personally love to communicate with the customers because this way I keep them updated with their orders. As soon I start shopping, I let them know that I started even though Instacart notifies the customers when you start the shopping.

• Payments: Instacart pays you every week. They have direct deposit, which is very convenient. They also have this thing called Instant Cashout, where you can get what you made right away, paying a fee of $0.50 cents.

Somethings that I wish were different...

• Sometimes when you start an order, and there are a couple of changes to the order, whether a refund or replacements, sometimes you end up making less money than it is expected. This is due to the customer changing their tips. I have talked to a few of the workers using the chat feature, and they told me that this results from the customers total being too much than what they expected. If their total is too much, then they pay using the tips they gave you. I personally do not like this because sometimes you end up losing up to like $5 dollars from your order.

• Taxes: I wish that they will remove the taxes automatically. Since you are an independent contractor, you need to go pay the taxes yourself. I have not done so yet, but I will soon.

Tips for success:

• You can do Instacart using a bike, but it is preferable if you have a car. The majority of the orders, the big ones, are the ones that pay the most. For example, if the order is from Costco, a bike is not an option. It's too far, and the products are heavy.

• Patience: Waiting for the perfect order is key. Do not go accepting whatever order you see because you are desperate. If you start to do an order of $30 dollars you are wasting the time you could have used to do a $60 dollar order. I wait however long I can in order to catch the best order. There have been times when I have waited one hour for an order. This is the perfect example: I once waited like an hour for an order and guess how much money that order was. Guess! $139.39 dollarssssss! This order took me about 3 to complete in total. The drive was 45 minutes to the store. I lasted there about 45 minutes to an hour, and then took it to the customer that lived 25 minutes from the store.

• I recommend that when you start, you shop with someone. When I started my mom would helped me. What we did was that once we got to the store, I would take pictures of some items on her phone and she would get them. Not only is this the most efficient way to shop, but you are also able to do more order because it takes you less time to shop.

• At first, you will take a long time to complete one order because you will not know where every item is in the store. The more orders you do at the same store the better. You get to familiarize yourself with the aisles. The first time I went to Costco, I was overwhelmed. The aisles are not labeled and they have so many thingssss. After my 4th visit, I knew where the majority of the things were. Now, when I do Costco orders I literally take 20 minutes to do an order of 45 items. For me shopping is like a game. I try to get as many items in a little bit of time. I be running these isles like there's no tomorrow, hahahaha!!

Getting more familiar with Instacart

• Below I will be sharing with you a couple of pictures of what the app looks like. This will make it easier for me to explain what I mean and for you to follow along.

There are two types of orders:

1) Delivery only order: Here an Instacart shopper does all the shopping. This shopper works in the store. Once you accept a delivery order, you will need to go to the assigned store and collect the purchase. The items will be in shelves already bagged. You will need to scan them with the app. Then deliver them to the customer.

2) Full Service order: For this type of order you have to do the shopping and the delivery as well.

Understanding what is in the picture...

• The dollar amount: This is the total amount you will make once you complete the order. This number can change depending on the replacements you make to the order and if there are any refunds (however, this change is very rare).

• The miles: This is NOT the total miles for the whole trip. This is how far the customers lives from the store.

• Items vs. Units: An item is what the customer wants. The units are the total amounts of items you will have once you finish the shopping. The items can repeat, which will mean a higher unit number.

• Store: Next to the bubble, is the location of the store. Under it, is the name and the address of the store.

If you look to the number next to the earnings, it says 3. This means the total number of orders you will be doing in one shopping. What Instacart does, is that they combine all the orders and separate them by A, B and C. When you pay, you need to make sure to pay for the correct items for the correct orders. I have heard that you cannot do a refund, so be careful!

Once you decide to do an order you click on it. This is the thing, you need to be fast. If you see a good order, you need to take it as soon as possible because a lot of people will be trying to get it as well. Speed is key! Once you click on it, an overview of the order will appear. Here you will see the map, and know how far are you from the store, and how far is the store from the customers house. Here you can see how much Instacart is paying you, as well as how much the customer is typing you. This order is for 3 customers, so the tip number is shared. You will see how much items and units there are. You can also see the number of miles for the trip. Since it is 3 customers, this is the total number of miles from the store, and each of the customers from one another's added. If the order is a heavy order it will say so. Below you can also see the items the customers want.

Now, what happens when you select and order and someone else has already selected it? This message will appear, Batch unavailable. One time I was driving, and my mom was in the passenger seat. She was looking for orders. I looked at my phone through my peripherals and there was a $400 something dollar order. I started screaming, "Mami take it, mami take it." Bruh, do you think we took it? Well if you have been paying attention the biggest order I took I mentioned above. It was $139. So no, we didn't end up taking it.

In this picture, you have a better sense of what the map actually looks like. The blue dot is your location. The green circle is the store. And the house bubble is where the customer leaves. Depending if they live in a house or building, the icon changes. If they live in a building, a building will appear in the bubble. Don't be fooled by the map. It looks like I was far from the store, but I was. I was about 15 minutes from it.

What consists of a great order...

• The dollar amount should be high.

• Preferably if it is just one order instead of two or three.

• The number of miles is not too high.

• The items are low, and the units high. You want a order that the units repeat a lot, instead of having a lot of different items, and low units.

Before I finish this blog, I would like to leave you guys with a little quiz. Which one of these orders is the best? Leave your answer in the comments and I will let you know what I think.

This blog was meant to expose you a little bit to Instacart. I am thinking of making another blog, a part 2, where I go more into the logistics of earnings, referrals, ratings, best times to shop, promotions, customer help, communications with the customers, setting up an account and so on. If you are interested, stay tune for the poll.

Thank you for giving me the time of your day to read this piece. If you have any questions regarding anything do not hesitate to ask me. If you have any suggestions please let me know. Remember I am not the best writer. If you do happen to find a grammar mistake on this piece, please email me.

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Stay tuned for my next blog -> Europe, Are You Ready For Me? :*)

XOXO Yerika