Shipt Review – Is It Time To Get Onboard the Shipt?
While no longer a newcomer on the grocery delivery scene, Shipt is still a bit of an underdog. But after reviewing Shipt’s grocery delivery service and considering their recent acquisition by Target, I expect Shipt to be a household name before long. After reading this Shipt review, I’m guessing you’ll be on board too.
In the spirit of transparency, you should know that some of the links in this article are affiliate links. That means when you click on a link and then purchase a service or product, I may receive a commission. Rest assured that commission doesn't cost you anything to but it does help me keep the Pantry full of great, honest, information just for you.
What is Shipt?
Like other grocery delivery services, Shipt sends a shopper to your local grocery store do the shopping for you and then delivers your order right to your door.
This same day delivery service promises to simplify your life by offering convenient delivery to households in over 217 cities, and counting!
Delivery map courtesy of Shipt
How Does Shipt Work?
I don’t think I need to bore you with a detailed explanation of a grocery delivery service. Long story short, Shipt is exceptionally easy to use with a sleek app and website, just create your account, enter your location, choose your store, and start shopping.
Once you’ve completed your order and virtually checkout, Shipt sends your order to one of their shoppers.
The shopper generally starts shopping for your order an hour before the delivery window. When your shopper is finished with your order they will deliver the groceries right to your door and even bring them inside.
You can tip your shopper in cash or through the app to show your appreciation.
Shortly after delivery you will receive your receipt by email and can add or change the shopper’s tip anytime within the next 24 hours.
How Much Does Shipt Cost?
In their never ending quest to make same day delivery as easy as possible, Shipt’s pricing structure is really straightforward.
While you can create a free account to browse Shipt’s shelves (try saying that five times fast), you cannot make an order without purchasing a membership. Shipt offers two types of memberships, annual and monthly.
Shipt Membership Pricing
The monthly membership costs $14/month.
The annual membership is a one time payment of $99/year which breaks down to $8.25/month. A clear savings over the monthly membership.
Unfortunately there weren't any special promos in my area at the time but I've seen deals as good as 50% off the annual subscription cost!
NOTE: Due to the increased delivery requests caused by Covid-19, Shipt is not currently offering any promos.
If you want to know about any special promotions in your area make sure to contact Shipt support.
Chat conversation with shipt customer service
Shipt Delivery Fee
But what about the cost of delivery? No problem, Shipt offers free delivery on every order over $35. Any order of less than $35 will incur a $7 delivery fee, but honestly who ever orders less than $35 of groceries?!?!
If you are lucky enough to have your store offer alcohol delivery options there will be an additional $7 convenience fee for purchasing alcohol.
Shipt vs. Store Pricing
In addition to the annual (or monthly) fee, product prices through Shipt are generally about 3% higher than in-store pricing. There is always a cost for convenience and honestly, they have to make their money somehow. Shipt is really upfront about this and says, “Our members can expect to pay about $5 more using Shipt than they would on a $35 order purchased in the store themselves.”
I actually found that price difference to be incredibly accurate. Here is my identical shopping cart with Shipt vs. the actual store HEB.
Shipt Cart
Store Cart
The Shipt total was about $10 more than the store total. This matches up almost exactly with their estimated $5 per $35 order.
This total does not include the delivery fees charged by the store as compared to Shipt's free delivery. This is just to show the direct comparison of Shipt vs. in store item prices.
The only other cost you need to keep in consideration is the voluntary tip for your shopper. Let me tell you, Shipt’s shoppers are a-maz-ing, and I’ve happily tipped them around 10% every time. Great news, 100% of the tip goes directly to the Shipt shopper. You can learn more about my love affair with Shipt shoppers later.
What Can I Buy With Shipt?
Okay, okay, so Shipt is amazing but what can I buy? Well, that depends on your location and your store availability so really the best place to start would be to check your zip code.
In my personal shopping experience, there wasn’t anything that I wanted that my Shipt shopper wasn’t able to get, except a bottle of wine. Talk about first world problems.
As I mentioned before, some stores are able to include alcohol in your Shipt purchases but others are not and that is mostly due to local laws, taxes, and regulations.
The only other items that are not available for delivery are prescription medication, tobacco, lottery cards, and propane tanks, all of which are completely understandable.
If you search through the virtual store and can’t find what you are looking for you can even create a custom request with details about the product.
It is important to note that the cost of the item will not be reflected accurately in the original estimate and will be updated at the time your shopper checks out.
What if I'm Unhappy with my Purchase?
First of all, I have never even for a single second been unhappy with Shipt so this section was almost difficult to write. But...in all fairness, I can’t expect everyone to have the same experience as me, especially considering every shopper, in every area, will be different.
That said, if you are unhappy with a product you purchased or find that an item was missing from your order you have 7 days to request a refund.
They make it easy to do right from the app just by reporting feedback on your order and choosing the appropriate problem.
No eggs were harmed in the writing of this Shipt review
If you are unhappy with your Shipt membership you are free to cancel the membership at any time through their contact page (cancelation is not currently available through the app).
Pros and Cons of Shipt
What I Love About Shipt
“Oh how I love thee, let me count the ways” Okay, okay, I won’t write an ode to Shipt but I could.
My hands down favorite thing about Shipt is their out of this world (pun intended) customer service. I am one of those people who will be extra loyal to a company that consistently provides good customer service and Shipt is one of those companies.
I have had many quick questions and conversations through the awesome chat feature available through the Shipt website. I have never once been disappointed.
But the great service doesn’t end there, my Shipt shoppers have all been exceptional. I always receive a greeting text message from my shopper as they start working on my order, followed by texts throughout their shopping with updates if an item is unavailable.
I even received a picture of the possible alternatives to a missing item so I could choose something I wanted instead of leaving this to their judgement.
(Note: There is a special setting in the app that lets you choose how you want substitutions handled.)
Side note - Lily's Chocolate is AMAZING! If you can't find it at your local grocery store you can find it at Thrive Market or Amazon.
I have to admit that the hardest part about ordering groceries online is being prepared enough to know what I need or not.
So when I received a text letting me know she was heading to the checkout and asking if there was anything else I needed, I suddenly remembered that we were almost out of bananas.
So what did my shopper do? She grabbed a perfect bunch of bananas on the way to the checkout.
What I Wish they Would Do Better
The only thing I wish Shipt would change would be to add more store availability.
Yes really, my only request is that they give me more options for using their service.
In my area, Shipt currently offers delivery from two stores, a local grocery chain, HEB, and Target.
Since Shipt was acquired by Target late last year they have been expanding their Target delivery services throughout the country. As much as I love strolling the aisle at Target, sometimes I just can’t turn down the convenience of delivery.
Common Complaints About Shipt
The most common, and frankly only, complaint I’ve heard about Shipt is that you have to call to cancel the membership.
Thankfully, that isn’t true.
I made sure to figure out the cancelation options before signing up for my free two week trial.
I was pleasantly surprised when the Shipt support member told me I would be able to cancel via phone, email, or chat (my personal fav).
PS. I used chat to cancel my membership and ended up with an additional two months of free trial membership and $20 off my annual membership afterwards.
Shipt Review - The Verdict
In case you skipped the rest of the article and came straight down to the verdict, here is what you missed...I LOVE SHIPT!
This company has gone above and beyond in creating a seamless and convenient grocery delivery service that doesn’t disappoint.
If you are only going to try one delivery service Shipt should be your #1 choice.
If it isn’t available in your area yet don’t panic.
You can sign up for a launch alert and even receive a special promotion as one of the first Shipt shoppers in your area.
