Here Are All the Ways You Can Get Groceries Delivered, Wherever You Are
Growing up in Manhattan, the greatest convenience for my family was shopping COD: cash on delivery. You'd head to the store, load your cart with groceries you needed but definitely didn't want to carry, and give the cashier your address. An hour or two later, a breathless delivery man would dump the purchases in your tiny kitchen, and you’d pay him for the groceries on the spot.
I never thought grocery delivery could get any better or more convenient than COD—especially for those living outside of one of the busiest cities in our nation. But it has.
Struggling to cook healthy? We'll help you prep.
Suddenly, grocery delivery is everywhere—except there's no more cash, you can text your delivery person with any request, and there's zero need to ever head to the grocery store.
You can shop for your groceries without getting off the couch, and why wouldn't you? With grocery delivery, you can easily stick to your budget and avoid unnecessary or tempting purchases. Plus, you never have to navigate busy aisles for items that are often out of stock or wait in long lines again.
We compiled a list of grocery stores, membership clubs, and third-party memberships that are likely to be available in your area. Some are free, and some will deliver in less than two hours. The best part? All of these services can help stock your kitchen with healthy purchases.
1) Target
You can now get all of your non-perishable essentials (and stunning kitchen accessories) shipped directly from Target. If you truly need fresh produce from Target, you'll be able to get that through its partnership with Shipt—but any order placed on Target's website that is over $35 is now eligible for free two-day shipping.
Membership Cost: You don't need a membership to shop at Target.com—but if you're a Target Redcard holder, you can enjoy free two-day shipping on any order with no limits.
Delivery Fee: None.
RELATED: Walmart Launches Same-Day Delivery 2) Shipt
Credit: Photo courtesy of Shipt. Shipt is one of the fastest growing delivery services in the nation, and it was bought by Target earlier this year. Shipt is a favorite for shoppers in the Southeastern half of the United States, but it's also slowly expanding into the Midwest, Texas, and Arizona. Using Shipt's mobile-friendly grocery ordering app, you can choose a participating supermarket you'd like to order from and arrange for your purchases to show up at your door. And the best part? A personal shopper will fetch it all for you. In a few places, you can even use Shipt to get liquor delivered.
Membership Cost: You'll have to sign up for a membership to get access to unlimited Shipt deliveries, which is $14 monthly or $99 annually.
Delivery Fee: If your order is $35 or more, it's free. Otherwise, you'll have to cough up a $7 delivery fee.
3) Instacart
Credit: Getty: Bloomberg If you're looking for the speediest delivery, Instacart might be your best option—they offer a 1-hour delivery option in many areas. Like Shipt, you order groceries from a chosen participating store via their app, and shopper will get everything for you. Should one of your items be sold out, your Instacart courier will shoot you a message and suggest alternatives—and they'll even let you know of any sales or promotions. Servicing 26 states (and Washington D.C.), this service lets you shop from most leading supermarkets and some membership stores—including newest additions, BJ's Wholesale Club and Kroger.
Membership Cost: If you sign up for Instacart Express, you'll be billed $149 for the entire year and won't have to pay delivery fees whatsoever—but you can also use Instacart without being a member.
Delivery Fee: Express members can avoid delivery fees and peak rush-hour convenience fees. If you're not a member, expect to pay anywhere from $5.99 to $11.99 for orders that are $35 and up. Checks under $35 are more expensive, and if you want 1-hour delivery you’ll have to pay extra.
4) Amazon Fresh
If you already have an Amazon Prime membership, you can use Amazon's direct-to-you grocery delivery service Fresh for an additional fee. It's currently available in Seattle, New York City, Philadelphia, and across most of California. Amazon users here can directly add fresh groceries to their carts, including fan favorites from partner Whole Foods.
Membership Cost: In addition to your Prime membership, the Amazon Fresh membership fee is $14.99 monthly (a vast improvement from its original fee of $299 per year).
Delivery Fee: All orders over $50 are delivered for free, but spend less than that and you can expect a hefty $9.99 delivery fee for each order.
5) Whole Foods
Credit: Courtesy of Whole Foods In February, Whole Foods fans were elated to learn that Amazon would roll out free two-hour delivery to Prime members across the nation before the end of 2018. Currently, those Prime members living in San Francisco, Atlanta, Austin, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Sacramento, San Diego, and Virginia Beach can shop for groceries (and even alcohol!) at Whole Foods and receive free 2-hour delivery on orders of $35 or more.
You can also score Whole Foods 365 products online through Amazon and use services like Instacart to get groceries from Whole Foods delivered right to your door.
Membership Cost: Amazon Prime memberships cost $12.99 monthly—but you get a whole slew of other benefits in addition to Whole Foods delivery, including free two-day shipping on so many essential kitchen gadgets.
Delivery Fee: You can cash in on 2-hour delivery without any fees—and Whole Foods is offering 1-hour delivery on orders of $35 plus for just $7.99.
6) Walmart, Sam's Club
If you're interested in purchasing groceries at Walmart, you have a few options. Walmart recently announced the launch of a same-day delivery service, and depending on where you're located, you can have your groceries delivered to right to your front door. The retailer's biggest delivery partner thus far is DoorDash, a courier-like service based in San Francisco—and Walmart is letting first-time customers try the service for free with promo code "FRESHCAR" on an order of $50 or more. Walmart is also reportedly working with mobile-delivery service Postmates in some areas, as well as Instacart and Uber in a few larger markets, according to Supermarket News.
If you aren't in the chain's service area yet, nearly every Walmart offers a pickup service, where you can place an order online and then have it loaded into your car when you arrive. The benefit of the pickup service is that prices are the same as if you had spent time collecting the products in the store yourself.
Credit: Getty: Anne Cusack / Contributor If you're a Sam's Club member, you'll be happy to hear that members can now enjoy free shipping on nearly all of their items with no minimum purchase. However, this deal doesn’t include fresh groceries or produce.
Membership Cost: You don't need a Sam's Club membership to use Walmart's pickup service, but if you want free two-day shipping on Sam's Club items, an annual membership is currently $100.
Delivery Fee: $9.95 on each order that meets a $30 minimum.
7) Google Express
Credit: Photo courtesy of Google. Google has jumped into the grocery delivery scene by partnering with big-box retailer stores like Target and Costco, offering an incentive for shoppers in the United States to buy items in bulk. The catch is that this service, much like many other online services, doesn't currently offer perishables such as eggs or fresh vegetables.
But unlike other options, Google Express offers a wider selection of goods to be delivered—from pet supplies to clothing—and you don't have to have a membership to shop. Here is the full list of retailers Google partners with for this service.
Membership Cost: You'll save a little bit if you choose to pay for an annual membership, which is $95. Otherwise, expect to shell out $10 per month.
Delivery Fee: If you meet a store's minimum (usually $25 to $35), there's no delivery fee, but it's $3 if you're under the minimum. If you're not a member, the delivery fee is usually $4.99 for each store.
8) Peapod
Credit: Photo courtesy of Peapod. An extension of Stop & Shop supermarkets, Peapod was one of the first supermarkets to sell food online. It's available in 13 different states and in D.C., and you don't need a membership to get fresh groceries delivered to your home. Fans particularly love Peapod because the service will keep track of your purchases, making it easy to reorder your favorites in a snap. Bonus: this service also offers nutritional information for many of its items listed online.
Membership Cost: None.
Delivery Fee: The delivery fee gets cheaper with the greater amount of groceries that you order, usually around $6.95 for orders of $100 or more.
9) HelloFresh
Credit: Photo courtesy of Hello Fresh. Meal kit services are an entirely different business when it comes to delivering fresh groceries to your home, but we thought HelloFresh was worth a mention. This meal delivery service sends affordable and healthy ingredients packaged for you to use at home, you could technically avoid the grocery store altogether by using HelloFresh. The service is available in all states except Alaska and Hawaii.
Depending on the plan that you select, meals can cost anywhere from $9 to $10 per person. Bonus: there are options for vegetarians, too.
Membership Cost: You select a plan that works best for you and your family. HelloFresh's classic plan has three to five meals, ranging in cost from $60 to $120. The vegetarian plan is also priced in the same range.
Delivery Fee: Free, included with your plan's cost.
10) FreshDirect
If you live in the Tri-State area, you'll immediately recognize Fresh Direct as a household name for many of those living in or near New York City. Compared to other services on this list, FreshDirect is distinctly more expensive. However, you'd still save more money shopping with the service than in many supermarkets across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington, D.C. The delivery service retains its own in-house bakery and maintains partnerships with local farms, meaning customers are enjoying some of the freshest groceries around.
Membership Cost: A six-month membership is $79 while a year's worth of deliveries will cost $129.
Delivery Fee: Most Fresh Direct deliveries cost $5.99 for an order of $30 or more, but the prices range based on the area where you live.
Shipt is one of the fastest growing delivery services in the nation, and it was bought by Target earlier this year. Shipt is a favorite for shoppers in the Southeastern half of the United States, but it's also slowly expanding into the Midwest, Texas, and Arizona. Using Shipt's mobile-friendly grocery ordering app, you can choose a participating supermarket you'd like to order from and arrange for your purchases to show up at your door. And the best part? A personal shopper will fetch it all for you. In a few places, you can even use Shipt to get liquor delivered.
Membership Cost: You'll have to sign up for a membership to get access to unlimited Shipt deliveries, which is $14 monthly or $99 annually.
Delivery Fee: If your order is $35 or more, it's free. Otherwise, you'll have to cough up a $7 delivery fee.
If you're looking for the speediest delivery, Instacart might be your best option—they offer a 1-hour delivery option in many areas. Like Shipt, you order groceries from a chosen participating store via their app, and shopper will get everything for you. Should one of your items be sold out, your Instacart courier will shoot you a message and suggest alternatives—and they'll even let you know of any sales or promotions. Servicing 26 states (and Washington D.C.), this service lets you shop from most leading supermarkets and some membership stores—including newest additions, BJ's Wholesale Club and Kroger.
Membership Cost: If you sign up for Instacart Express, you'll be billed $149 for the entire year and won't have to pay delivery fees whatsoever—but you can also use Instacart without being a member.
Delivery Fee: Express members can avoid delivery fees and peak rush-hour convenience fees. If you're not a member, expect to pay anywhere from $5.99 to $11.99 for orders that are $35 and up. Checks under $35 are more expensive, and if you want 1-hour delivery you’ll have to pay extra.
If you already have an Amazon Prime membership, you can use Amazon's direct-to-you grocery delivery service Fresh for an additional fee. It's currently available in Seattle, New York City, Philadelphia, and across most of California. Amazon users here can directly add fresh groceries to their carts, including fan favorites from partner Whole Foods.
Membership Cost: In addition to your Prime membership, the Amazon Fresh membership fee is $14.99 monthly (a vast improvement from its original fee of $299 per year).
Delivery Fee: All orders over $50 are delivered for free, but spend less than that and you can expect a hefty $9.99 delivery fee for each order.
In February, Whole Foods fans were elated to learn that Amazon would roll out free two-hour delivery to Prime members across the nation before the end of 2018. Currently, those Prime members living in San Francisco, Atlanta, Austin, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Sacramento, San Diego, and Virginia Beach can shop for groceries (and even alcohol!) at Whole Foods and receive free 2-hour delivery on orders of $35 or more.
You can also score Whole Foods 365 products online through Amazon and use services like Instacart to get groceries from Whole Foods delivered right to your door.
Membership Cost: Amazon Prime memberships cost $12.99 monthly—but you get a whole slew of other benefits in addition to Whole Foods delivery, including free two-day shipping on so many essential kitchen gadgets.
Delivery Fee: You can cash in on 2-hour delivery without any fees—and Whole Foods is offering 1-hour delivery on orders of $35 plus for just $7.99.
If you're interested in purchasing groceries at Walmart, you have a few options. Walmart recently announced the launch of a same-day delivery service, and depending on where you're located, you can have your groceries delivered to right to your front door. The retailer's biggest delivery partner thus far is DoorDash, a courier-like service based in San Francisco—and Walmart is letting first-time customers try the service for free with promo code "FRESHCAR" on an order of $50 or more. Walmart is also reportedly working with mobile-delivery service Postmates in some areas, as well as Instacart and Uber in a few larger markets, according to Supermarket News.
If you aren't in the chain's service area yet, nearly every Walmart offers a pickup service, where you can place an order online and then have it loaded into your car when you arrive. The benefit of the pickup service is that prices are the same as if you had spent time collecting the products in the store yourself.
If you're a Sam's Club member, you'll be happy to hear that members can now enjoy free shipping on nearly all of their items with no minimum purchase. However, this deal doesn’t include fresh groceries or produce.
Membership Cost: You don't need a Sam's Club membership to use Walmart's pickup service, but if you want free two-day shipping on Sam's Club items, an annual membership is currently $100.
Delivery Fee: $9.95 on each order that meets a $30 minimum.
Google has jumped into the grocery delivery scene by partnering with big-box retailer stores like Target and Costco, offering an incentive for shoppers in the United States to buy items in bulk. The catch is that this service, much like many other online services, doesn't currently offer perishables such as eggs or fresh vegetables.
But unlike other options, Google Express offers a wider selection of goods to be delivered—from pet supplies to clothing—and you don't have to have a membership to shop. Here is the full list of retailers Google partners with for this service.
Membership Cost: You'll save a little bit if you choose to pay for an annual membership, which is $95. Otherwise, expect to shell out $10 per month.
Delivery Fee: If you meet a store's minimum (usually $25 to $35), there's no delivery fee, but it's $3 if you're under the minimum. If you're not a member, the delivery fee is usually $4.99 for each store.
An extension of Stop & Shop supermarkets, Peapod was one of the first supermarkets to sell food online. It's available in 13 different states and in D.C., and you don't need a membership to get fresh groceries delivered to your home. Fans particularly love Peapod because the service will keep track of your purchases, making it easy to reorder your favorites in a snap. Bonus: this service also offers nutritional information for many of its items listed online.
Membership Cost: None.
Delivery Fee: The delivery fee gets cheaper with the greater amount of groceries that you order, usually around $6.95 for orders of $100 or more.
Meal kit services are an entirely different business when it comes to delivering fresh groceries to your home, but we thought HelloFresh was worth a mention. This meal delivery service sends affordable and healthy ingredients packaged for you to use at home, you could technically avoid the grocery store altogether by using HelloFresh. The service is available in all states except Alaska and Hawaii.
Depending on the plan that you select, meals can cost anywhere from $9 to $10 per person. Bonus: there are options for vegetarians, too.
Membership Cost: You select a plan that works best for you and your family. HelloFresh's classic plan has three to five meals, ranging in cost from $60 to $120. The vegetarian plan is also priced in the same range.
Delivery Fee: Free, included with your plan's cost.
If you live in the Tri-State area, you'll immediately recognize Fresh Direct as a household name for many of those living in or near New York City. Compared to other services on this list, FreshDirect is distinctly more expensive. However, you'd still save more money shopping with the service than in many supermarkets across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington, D.C. The delivery service retains its own in-house bakery and maintains partnerships with local farms, meaning customers are enjoying some of the freshest groceries around.
Membership Cost: A six-month membership is $79 while a year's worth of deliveries will cost $129.
Delivery Fee: Most Fresh Direct deliveries cost $5.99 for an order of $30 or more, but the prices range based on the area where you live.