Each week, I literally spend hours planning our meals for the next week. From figuring out Jose's work schedule (which is a whole mathematical equation all on it's own), to what Aurora has going on each evening, to what healthy-ish meals I can actually get everyone on board with, to finally going to the store and getting groceries, I would say it costs me about a good 4 hours. Guess who doesn't have an extra 4 hours? This girl! So when I found out about Shipt's grocery delivery service, I... well, at first I thought it was too good to be true. Or that there was a catch. Or that it would be really pricey. However, it was actually none of those things. So, in case you're on the fence about trying Shipt, I thought I'd do a little review of my first experience with them!
The first step is getting signed up. This is where you'll create an account, select your membership plan, and create your profile (select your store, set up billing info, etc). You can also enter rewards info here (mPerks, for example). Your first two weeks are free, and then you have the option to pay for the whole year up front ($99, which averages out to be $8.25/mo) or you can pay monthly ($14/mo). $8.25/mo to never have to go to the store again!? YES, PLEASE!!!
Once your account is all set up, it's time to go shopping! I use Google calendar for literally everything, so I created a separate calendar to schedule all our meals. Not just dinners, but breakfasts, lunches, and snacks, too. Okay, I just re-read that and realize how crazy it makes me sound, so let me explain. I started doing this about two years ago when I was doing the 21 Day Fix, because it really helped me to plan out my meals and not go over on my colors. Now it mostly helps with grocery shopping. Rather than just getting random things at the store, I only put what's on our calendar, on our grocery list (aside from household items and things of that nature). This helps us to avoid getting things we don't need, getting too much of something (and eventually throwing it out because it's gone bad!), etc. Another thing I love about online grocery shopping, is that it adds your total up as you go. One of the areas our budget always needs improvement on, is the food category. We spend too much eating out, on groceries, etc. Seeing the total as we go really helps us to control this more!
So once I've gone through and added everything, I check out! At checkout, you can add notes to your items, and let your shopper know what to do if an item is out of stock. You then select your delivery time window, enter your payment and delivery info, and viola - you're done!
So the next step is to await response from a Shipt shopper, saying they claimed your order. Once my order had been claimed, my shopper text me and let me know she'd be starting my shopping soon. While she was at the store, she text me to let me know when she was almost done and on her way to check out. She asked if there was anything else I needed. And she also text me to let me know that things were taking a while at the deli, so she might be a few minutes later than what she'd originally told me (which was still well within the delivery window). I loved the communication - enough to update, but not annoying.
She text me when she was in our driveway to let me know she was here, and then also carried everything to my door. They aren't allowed to come in your house. She was the sweetest, friendliest person ever and I asked her if I could request her for future trips. She said that I couldn't but that sometimes, if you order around the same time each week, you might get the same person. Also, you have the option of tipping and rating them after the trip is complete. I was 100% pleased with my first Shipt experience and will be using them for all my grocery shopping needs in the future! This is a total game-changer for us right now!
Update: I finished this post earlier today, but had a slightly different experience with our order this evening that I just wanted to share. It wasn't bad, but it brought about some new info on how this whole thing works. So I placed my order today about the same time as I did last week. (I think around 3:30 or 4 pm.) Last week, my shopper had claimed my order and text me by 5:20. Tonight, it was about 6:30 and my order still hadn't been claimed for my 7-8 pm window. I called the customer service number to see what was going on and the guy, who was very friendly, told me that it looked like all the active shoppers in my area were currently working on other orders. He said it doesn't happen often (this being Super Bowl weekend may have had something to do with it), but if they can't get your order in by the chosen delivery window, they'll bump you to the next, but if you have any issues with that you can let them know and they'll work with you to find a time that works. I was fine with having them delivered tomorrow if they needed to be, but shortly after our call, a lady claimed my order. When she initially texted me, she let me know there might be a slight delay, because she had just gotten the order. (While looking up the customer service number earlier, Jose had noticed that if shoppers in your area are all busy, they sometimes broaden the area of shoppers, so I'm assuming that's what happened.) Anyway, this lady was still pretty friendly. We didn't become BFF's like me and my first shopper did, the communication was not as much (which was fine), and she didn't get to our house until about 9 pm. She was extremely apologetic, though, and it really didn't effect us that she didn't get there until then. If it would've been any later, I would've started putting Holden to bed, so that could've been an issue. Anyway, it was still fine and I am still 100% on board with Shipt because, at the end of the day, guess who doesn't have to spend forevs at the grocery store!?!? Me!!! I just wanted to share both experiences, since they were a little different.
