How to Make the Most of Shopping for Instacart

As online grocery shopping becomes more popular, consumers are turning to Instacart — one of the most popular grocery delivery services — to have their groceries brought directly to their front door. As the number of Instacart delivery customers increases, so does the number of Instacart shoppers who scour the stores gathering the customers' items. If you’re a shopper — or considering becoming one — here are 15 of the best Instacart hacks to make the most of your time and effort.

Related: The Best Tips and Tricks for Buying Groceries with Instacart

Instacart shoppers have the best success when they shop in high-demand zones. Finding batches, or customer orders, with higher payments means more money for shoppers. Shoppers can find high-demand zones on the shopper app, which will show nearby zones with higher batch payments.

Related: Instacart Launching a Ready-Made Meal Service

One of the more obvious shopper tips, be sure to choose a batch that's worth the money. Selecting a smaller batch can be a waste of time after adding in the base pay and tip. This is something you will learn over time as a shopper. 

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It’s easy to miss Instacart opportunities as they come in if you’re not being vigilant. Scrolling and making sure you see the most recent orders is the best way to nab the high-paying batches before someone else can take the order.  

Related: How Instacart is Keeping Tips in Workers' Pockets

During peak times, Instacart incentivizes shoppers by offering pay boosts ranging from $2-$12, with an average boost of $8. Shoppers can claim peak time shifts on the Instacart Shopper App to claim one of the limited slots available.

Related: 46 Simple Ways to Make Extra Money

From bagging your groceries yourself to starting at the deli, there are many ways to maximize your shopping experience. Developing a routine can help get you in and out of the store quickly, allowing shoppers to accept new batches and make more money. 

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The routine starts before a shopper even steps foot in the store. Instead of parking in the first open space, try to park efficiently. Choose a spot closest to the entrance you’ll be using that is also as close as possible to the cart return. As soon as you load your vehicle, you can return the cart and be on your way quickly.

Before making your way into the store, check the notes section of the shopping list. This is an excellent way for customers to leave requests and helpful notes for their shoppers. Ignoring a customer’s notes can cause problems and delay batch completion, costing shoppers a bigger tip.

It is common to shop for a customer and run into trouble when looking for a popular item. If you can’t find a requested item and choose a similar one, be aware of the price of the replacement item. Try to find something with a comparable price to keep the customer happy. 

Both the customer and the shopper need to be near their app when an order is filled. As a shopper, text your customers about any item changes right away. The sooner you send a text, the faster they can reply, which will help you complete your order as quickly as possible.

There is nothing worse than your phone dying in the middle of filling an order. You do not know what else you have on your list, but you’ll have to put everything back and go to your car — or worse, home — to charge your phone, wasting shopping time. Always keep your phone charged and have a portable or a car charger handy.

Investing in insulated grocery bags is not a must. Still, it’s a great way to impress the customers while making your life easier as a shopper. Insulated bags keep frozen foods from melting, but they can also help you categorize when handling multiple batches at once. 

It’s essential to keep all receipts until you’ve received your payment from Instacart. While it’s not common to run into issues, sometimes, a customer may dispute a purchase. Once you’ve been paid, feel free to throw away those older receipts.

Because the shoppers get to keep the receipts, shoppers can upload them for cashback rewards. Uploading receipts to Ibotta, PayPal, Fetch, or similar rewards services can be an additional side hustle, as they offer cashback and gifts.

Tracking your mileage will make tax season much smoother. It’s easy to track your mileage using any of the many apps on the market today. As an Instacart shopper, the miles will add up quickly. In fact, for tax year 2022, the standard rate is 58.5 cents per mile. 

Once you complete 40 hours as an Instacart shopper, you can start referring friends. Instacart pays referral bonuses for shoppers who get their friends to sign up using their custom referral code. Once your friends sign up and fill 45 batches in 30 days, you’ll receive $1,000 in credits.

Find more smart money tips right here.