Grocery-Delivery Services Review - Day 2 Looking at Shipt & Burpy • FourPointsMom.com

Welcome back to Day 2 of the Four Points Mom Grocery-Delivery Services Review!

As a quick refresher, I’m spending the week on a 5-day series walking through the available grocery-delivery and curbside pickup services here in Austin:

Yesterday (Day 1) I told you all about my experiences with Instacart and the things I love and the things I don’t love about the service. Today (Day 2), I’m excited to share with you my experiences with Shipt and Burpy.

Remember, we’re on Day 2 of the 5-Day Series, so be sure to check back in each day this week to learn more about the other available services and, of course, stop by Friday to see who the winners are!

Tipping

Before I get started, I got a question today that I’d like you to chime in on. I was asked what the typical tip is for these services. Well, I don’t know what’s “typical” – I just know what the services often suggest and what I end up tipping. The services suggest about $5 – $15 or so, and I typically tip between $5 and $10, depending on the total amount spent and the level of customer service. How about you? What do you typically tip? It’s such a new service that I’m sure we’d all like to make sure we’re tipping appropriately and not too high or low!

Okay, let’s get to the review of the second service … And, as a reminder, this post contains my honest opinions about the various services, but it does contain affiliate links.

Shipt

I’ve seen ads for Shipt but I had never used it until this past month. What was great is that I was able to sign up for the annual plan for free for two weeks and check out the service. Within those two weeks I could cancel and not get charged. So, I decided to test it out!

How It Works

Go to the Shipt homepage.

On the home page, you can scroll down and provide your zip code to see which stores they serve in your area, but you can’t review pricing options unless you provide your email.

UPDATE: When I did my initial research I thought Shipt only shopped at H-E-B in Austin, but thanks to one of you awesome readers I learned that some areas of Austin can also have Central Market delivered. Awesome! I’m hoping they expand Central Market delivery out to us soon too. Also, in December Shipt announced it was acquired by TARGET! WHAT?!? I’m so excited because the rumor mill tells me Shipt will soon delivery from Target too (but apparently clothing might not be deliverable).

Unlike Instacart, Shipt requires you to either sign up for an annual or monthly plan. You can’t just pay for it as you use it.

I am a person who does NOT like to be tied down with a membership or annual plan. These plans are typically difficult to get out of and I don’t want to find myself stuck with a service I don’t like (or don’t find value in) because I failed to cancel it by the end date. (Don’t even bring up XM radio to me or else you’ll get an earful). I’ll talk more about pricing later, but I had to bring it up now because that’s the only way to begin shopping – pick a plan.

Time To Shop

Once you’ve signed up for a plan (and I encourage you to try it for free for 2 weeks and get the $15 off your first order), you’ll be at the Shipt Home Page.

I’m not a huge fan of the Shipt Home Page. I wish it immediately showed me things I want or might want to buy. For instance, it would be helpful to easily suggest items I’ve purchased before. Instead, it’s a bit distracting with special offers or highlighted products.

But, you can either immediately start typing in what you’re looking for in the search box at the top or browse by categories.

Similar to Instacart’s website, it’s easy to just click add next to the picture of the item you want. You can order from your computer or through the Shipt App.

The Shoppers

I really really like that Shipt uses one person for your shopper and deliverer. This provides consistency for me as we communicated while she shopped and met face-to-face during delivery. I’ve now used Shipt twice and during both times I appreciated the communication throughout the shopping trips and the friendliness while dropping everything off.

However, if you’re like me and don’t have your phone next to you then you’ll miss out on adding comments or providing further instructions.

My shopper picked great produce and I had no complaints.

Substitutions

In my first order with Shipt there weren’t any substitutions, but you can add notes before checking out if you have substitution preferences.

You can also provide your general substitution preference.

Your shopper should also text you with substitutions unless you direct otherwise.

I want to add here that I had an AMAZING experience with Shipt down in Houston. I realized I forgot to send a birthday card to someone whose birthday was that day. Shipt to the rescue! I went on the website, found that Shipt delivers from H-E-B down in Houston, and searched the site for a birthday balloon arrangement. On the site it was about $18. When my shopper started shopping she texted me right away and asked if she could choose a few balloons to be placed with one “happy birthday” balloon since it would be cheaper. And she asked if I’d like a birthday card too. She sent me several photos and let me choose everything. She was amazing! I ended up saving money. I was ecstatic that I thought to try Shipt instead of an online flower delivery place.

1/13/18 UPDATE: I’ve now shipped 9 times with Shipt and have been extremely happy each time.

Order Adjustments

Similar to Instacart, you can adjust your order up until an hour before it’s being processed. Plus, you can even reach out to your shopper once they’ve started shopping and request a modification.

Product Prices

As I mentioned earlier, you’re likely going to pay a bit more per item when using grocery-delivery services. That’s definitely the case with Shipt. Eight out of the ten items I price-compared were more when purchased through Shipt than when purchased through Instacart. To be clear, the price difference wasn’t significant but it was there.

Sales and Coupons

There were a handful of items that I thought had great sale prices. This is something that I didn’t see on the Instacart website which seemed to only have random coupons or sales.

Checking Out

When you’re ready to check out, you click the shopping cart in the top righthand corner. This will take you to the check out screen which gives you delivery window options. Shipt, like Instacart, can get items to you within a couple hours which is very nice. This is where you’ll see the Substitution Preference prompt I mentioned earlier. Also, I should point out that there is no additional delivery fee on orders of $35 or more. If you’re spending less than $35, you’ll pay a $7 delivery fee but there is no minimum order requirement.

Fees for Service

As I’ve mentioned, your only options with Shipt are an annual plan at $99 (which makes it $8.25/ month) or a monthly plan at $14/ month. Although I’m immediately hesitant to sign up for such plans, I do appreciate the transparency with such a pricing arrangement.

Additional Fees

The pricing structure for Shipt eliminates most extra fees. You will incur a $7 delivery fee for orders under $35. And you can tip your shopper. Tipping was pretty straightforward, but I do wish it was explained a bit during the shopping process before the shopper showed up (because it left me searching for cash and asking if I could just leave her it through the app). Once the order was complete, I received an email that allowed me to sign back in and leave a tip (thank goodness – I never have cash on me). A few pre-formulated options are provided ($5, $10, and $15) or you can write in your own. And that’s it for extra fees. Compared to Instacart, this system is amazing.

Shipt Wrap Up

What I love: Shipt’s clear pricing structure. Although I usually avoid monthly plans, I do appreciate that there aren’t any questionable fees or service charges. Also, I like that there’s just one shopper who shops for and delivers to you. Plus, the shoppers I’ve worked with have gone above and beyond each time. Perfect customer service.

What I don’t love: The website itself. Unlike Instacart’s website which has tons of FAQs and over-explains every little part of the shopping experience, Shipt’s simplified website makes it difficult to find information. And I didn’t like that I had to give them my information to find out the pricing structure. Finally, this will seem contradictory to what I just said I loved about Shipt I wish I didn’t have to sign up for a plan and could just pay-as-I-used-it.

Burpy

Austin-based Burpy has been delivering in the Austin area since its founders started it at UT in 2013.

As a fellow longhorn, I wanted to love Burpy. However, when comparing prices, I had to admit it wasn’t going to compare to Instacart or Shipt. So, after filling up my grocery cart and getting ready to order I decided not to do it.

How It Works

Go online to www.burpy.com.

Enter your zip code and you’ll be shown whether Burpy is available where you live and which stores they can delivery from if it is available. Burpy offers delivery from a variety of stores in Austin, including H-E-B, Whole Foods, Central Market, Costco, Walmart, Wheatsville Food Co-op, and Petco Now.

Time To Shop

The shopping experience is very similar to that of Instacart and Shipt. Personally, I didn’t like the website as much but it wasn’t very different than the other two.

One feature Burpy offers is that you can copy and paste your shopping list from another app or word document into their “Fast Lane.” Then you click on “Search For These Items.” What’s really cool is that it then populates suggestions based on each item on your list, one at a time.

What a cool idea!

Substitutions

When you check out, you’re given three options for items that are out of stock.

Product Prices

The prices are what made me give up on Burpy. They weren’t just a little higher. 9 out of 10 were more expensive and the applesauce was $2 more expensive. For the basic applesauce! I don’t understand how these prices are set up but Burpy certainly got the short end of the stick in the negotiating department with H-E-B.

Order Adjustments

Adjusting an order isn’t quite as straightforward as the other services, but Burpy’s website says you can contact them and they will help you. With Instacart, you can modify your order through the site easily, so this is another downfall of Burpy.

Sales and Coupons

If you sign up now, there is a special that you get your first delivery free plus $15 off your order of $35 or more. Plus, when you refer friends, you get $5. Other than the special they’re offering right now for first-time users, I didn’t see any other coupons or sales on products.

Checking Out

Similar to Instacart and Shipt, you click on the shopping cart in the top righthand corner. You can then view your cart before clicking “Checkout Now.”

Fees for Service

Burpy charges orders under $50 a $4.99 delivery fee. For orders over $50 from one store there is no delivery fee. If you want to order from more than one store, though, you will be charged a nominal $6.99 fee, per additional store.

However, there are additional delivery fees if you’re requesting delivery during busy times.

Additional Fees

You might not have a delivery fee, but Burpy charges a shopper fee that is paid 100% to the shopper for “driv[ing] to the store and pick[ing] the quality items. Burpy also charges a Trust fee which “supports [Burpy’s] standards, including upfront driving record checks and criminal background checks.” Bag fees are for, you guessed it, the fee paid for grocery store bags. Plus, you are encouraged to also provide a tip. For my $85 order, these fees added up to $10.

And then, of course, it’s recommended to tip as well.

Burpy Wrap-Up

What I love: The “Fast Lane” feature in the website is really cool. I use Wunderlist for my grocery list, so I can imagine dumping that list over would save me some time.

What I don’t love: Everything else really. The price per item is higher, and although they claim to have no delivery fees on orders over $49 they have extra fees (that might as well be considered delivery fees) instead. Plus, they don’t currently have an app (although it is in development).

Alright, there’s my review for Shipt and Burpy. Any surprises with my review? Let me hear it in the comments!

Don’t forget about the other reviews:

Comments

comments