This Grocery Delivery Service Is Adding A Surcharge Amid High Gas Prices
Grocery delivery has skyrocketed in popularity since the start of the pandemic two years ago and is now a go-to way for many families to conveniently get everything they need to stock the kitchen. It's also a money-saving tactic—with many stores offering discounts and sales for shoppers who use the services. Some even offer it for free. However, it requires someone to pick out the items and transport them to your door, and one of the biggest grocery delivery companies just announced it is raising its costs thanks to high gas prices.
While there are no membership fees to use Instacart, delivery fees start at $3.99 for same-day orders over $35. Other fees may be added on as well, and a service fee of 5% of the total is also applied. To help offset the high cost of gas right now, though, the company is adding a fuel surcharge to every order. The$0.40 will temporarily be passed directly to the shopper to help them pay for transporting the groceries.
"In a time of increased fuel costs across North America, we know that every cent counts, and we're hopeful this temporary fuel assistance will help offset some of the near-term challenges that shoppers are facing," Tom Maguire, Vice President of Operations and Care at Instacart said in an announcement posted on the company's website on March 18. "While shoppers on our platform tend to spend more time shopping and less time driving, we know that there is still an acute need to address rising gas prices and make sure we're supporting shoppers during this time."
Instacart says it will be launching the surcharge in the coming days and that the $0.40 will help the company's shoppers "over the next month". No specific ending date is given.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 gas prices rose to over $4 a gallon across the country. Instacart isn't the only company responding to the massive hike—DoorDash and Grubhub both recently added programs and increased pay for drivers.
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