Interested in having your weekly groceries delivered to your home, free of charge, for a full year?
There’s a new service that will offering just that. Instacart, a new grocery delivery service, launches in Milwaukee beginning Thursday, May 4.
The Milwaukee launch is the first in Wisconsin for Instacart, a San Francisco-based company which offers local delivery from area retailers – including Whole Foods Market, Petco, Costco, Meijer, Pick N Save and Metro Market – in as little as one hour.
"Over the past year we’ve seen incredible demand in the Milwaukee area," notes Dave Osborne, Instacart general manager. "We work with a variety of local retailers to provide the freshest, highest quality groceries to our customers...We’re also excited to build a world class shopper community, where we can offer fun and flexible jobs for our shoppers, who ultimately deliver this amazing service to the community."
How does it work?
- Starting May 4, visit Instacart.com or download the Instacart mobile app, which is available for both iPhone or Android devices.
- If you’re a first-time user, you’ll need to register for an account.
- Once you’ve done so, simply enter your zip code or city and choose your preferred store.
- Add items to your virtual shopping cart.
- Choose a delivery window (choices include: within one hour, within two hours, or up to seven days in advance).
- Check out.
Once you’ve placed your order, an Instacart personal shopper (a real person) will accept the order on his or her smartphone, gather the necessary items and deliver the order to you during the designated delivery timeframe.
According to information at Instacart, their personal shoppers are trained to go out of their way to select the best possible grocery items. They pay close attention to expiration dates and carefully handle delicate items like eggs and bottles. You can also leave personal preferences for your shopper (including specifications regarding the ripeness of items like bananas or avocadoes). And, if an item you order is out of stock, your shopper will make an appropriate replacement and contact you to verify it.
How much does it cost?
Instacart Express offers unlimited one-hour deliveries for $99 a year, or $14.99 a month. However, new customers are eligible for a special free trial during which they try out the delivery service free for one year.
Service area
Instacart’s service area includes 71 zip codes in the greater Milwaukee area, including the Lower East Side, The Upper East Side, Riverwest, Glendale, Brown Deer, Mequon, Grafton, Mayfield, Richfield, Hubertus, Menomonee Falls, Germantown, Sussex, Pewaukee, Hartland, Delafield, Wales, Waukesha, New Berlin, Brookfield, Greenfield, West Allis, Oak Creek and Muskego.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
