Gone are the days when you had to do errands and chores all by yourself. Nowadays, with the help of delivery apps like Instacart and Shipt, you can get household essentials delivered right at your doorstep in a few hours with just a few taps on your smartphone.
But if you’re a newbie, you should learn the proper way to tip these local shoppers who deliver groceries to your home. Initially, the tipping customs were unclear to most people with food delivery services, and now, so is the case with grocery delivery services like Instacart.
Due to the rapid demand surge of delivery services in the pandemic, Instacart has become one of the fastest-growing grocery delivery services in the United States. Although most delivery services in this modern gig economy do not focus highly on consumer tipping habits, it is ideal to have proper tipping etiquette.
This article will give you a guide to Instacart’s tipping standards and a full rundown on how tips work in this grocery delivery platform.
What is Instacart?
Instacart is a grocery delivery service that delivers groceries to your home with the help of gig workers who buy the groceries you need from the store of your choice and then deliver them to you.
You can use Instacart’s website and app to place grocery orders from your preferred local store and get them delivered to you the same day. For users that order in bulk, Instacart express offers a subscription service in which you get free delivery if your total order cost is above $35.
You will be charged a delivery fee of $3.99 for a standard Instacart order and a service fee of 5%. The lower your total order value, the higher will be the delivery fees. Instacart requires a minimum order value of $10 to place an order. The service fee for delivering alcohol is charged separately, and it varies depending on the quantity of alcohol you’re ordering.
If you’re a frequent user, you can also opt for Instacart’s subscription service to enjoy extra benefits and lower charges. Currently, the app doesn’t allow you to use SNAP/EBT cards for payments.
You can schedule the delivery of groceries for as long as two weeks in the future and as short as two hours from the time of ordering. However, the delivery time also depends on the operating hours of the grocery store you have chosen.
Although we recommend you stay at home at the time of delivery, you can ask Instacart’s delivery worker to leave the groceries at your doorstep in cases of unavailability.
However, if you fail to inform the shopper about your unavailability, they will cancel your order and leave with the groceries as they are not permitted to leave your order unattended without your consent.
Here’s Why You Should Tip Instacart Workers
Although you’re not obligated to tip delivery personnel, it is great to develop a habit of tipping them as they shop and deliver groceries at your doorstep. Tipping is a sweet gesture of gratitude that rewards the personnel if they offer excellent service.
Instacart’s tipping policy has not made a default tip mandatory for their drivers. However, most users on the platform uphold tipping expectations for the direct service provided by Instacart’s workers.
There is a cultural norm in the United States and Canada to tip those who provide you service. You should tip an Instacart shopper the same way you would tip a waiter, not as a formality but as a sweet gesture that helps them make a living.
Instacart’s advertisements claim that their workers can earn up to $25 an hour, but the blatant truth is that the average worker earns $6-$9 an hour, excluding tips. This wage lies below minimum wage in many states, making it extremely difficult for workers to support their families.
If you think that the average pay of these delivery workers is relatively low, you should know that Instacart shoppers also bear the expenses of the gas, car, maintenance, and insurance.
Therefore, tips are essential for shoppers to support themselves and their families. 100% of the tip goes directly to Instacart’s workers, and the company does not take any share from the tips collected.
Tipping Etiquette for Instacart
In the Instacart app, the checkout page suggests you add a tip of $2 or 5%, whichever is higher. But you should neglect the app’s suggestion as this default tip is significantly lower than what you should tip the gig worker.
When we enjoy the services at a restaurant or a hair salon, we add a 15% to 20% tip as it is generally considered the standard tipping rate. You should treat Instacart’s delivery workers the same way you would treat a restaurant or a hair salon staff.
There’s a common misconception that the service fee charged by Instacart goes to the shoppers. The service fee is different than the tip, and it is ideal to give a 15% tip in the United States if the delivery worker provides on-time delivery and decent service.
If your order consists of heavy or bulky items, and your shopper delivers them on time, giving you excellent service, you should increase the tip amount. However, there may be cases where the service is not up to the mark. In such cases, you can reduce the tip to 10% or lower.
Only in rare cases of abysmal and dissatisfactory service should you opt-out from tipping the workers as tips constitute a significant portion of a shopper’s income, and avoiding tipping them can cause a substantial drop to it. Some generous customers of Instacart offer big tips when they are delighted with the service provided and have the means to tip well.
In cases of poor service, you should consider the shopper’s point of view before deducting the tip amount as it may not always be their fault. Unavoidable circumstances like traffic can also cause delivery delays. Instead of saving money by cutting down tips, you can search for promo codes to avail discounts on your orders.
Grocery Delivery Workers’ Dependence on Tips
The last five years have seen a massive rise in gig economy platforms such as Instacart, Doordash, Uber, and Zomato. These companies brought with them flexible jobs for workers in the uncertainty of the pandemic.
Workers of such platforms enjoy extreme flexibility as they can choose when to work and how much to work. Gig workers are not paid on a salary basis, as their pay is dependent on the amount of work they do. They work as independent contractors who can choose if they’d like to work part-time or full-time. Similarly, Instacart delivery workers get paid based on the number of deliveries they complete.
Due to this reason, delivery shoppers do not have a minimum wage to protect them from less pay. The drivers are paid on the number of deliveries they do and the distance covered to complete those orders. Generally, a full-time grocery delivery shopper earns an average of $12 per hour. Gas and car maintenance are some expenditures that these workers bear from their own pockets.
With all these factors combined, tips are the only way workers in the service industry earn extra money to support their families as their base pay is relatively low.
Process of Tipping on Instacart
While placing orders on Instacart, you can preselect your preferable tip amount before the shopper delivers your order. The app suggests a default tip, as mentioned earlier, but you can change this tip amount by clicking on the “Change” button on the checkout page.
You can also change the preselected amount after the actual delivery takes place, as your tip will be based on the quality of service offered by the delivery worker. Instacart allows you to change the tip amount after the delivery has been completed for three days.
There are a few ways to change the tip amount. A receipt pop-up can let you change the tip if you’re altering it directly after the actual delivery. The same receipt will also be sent to your email address.
Here are the steps to change the tip amount using a desktop computer:
- First, go to Instacart.com and log in.
- Tap on the “Account” tab
- Choose “Your orders” from the menu.
- Select the order for which you’d like to change the tip.
- Click on “rate order” and set the new tip amount.
You don’t need a tip calculator as the Instacart app can do the tip amount calculation for you.
Can Instacart Shoppers See the Tip Amount?
A shopper is allowed to view the following details before accepting any order.
- The total distance between the chosen store and the customer
- The total number of items in the order
- Their earning estimate, which is the sum of the Instacart payment and the tip
After viewing the order details, the shopper can decide if they would like to accept the order or decline it. If you select the tipping amount before the actual delivery, the shopper will be able to view the chosen tip amount.
Instacart Tipping: Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can in-store shoppers receive my tips?
Instacart does hire in-store shoppers, but these workers do not interact with you directly and work behind the scenes in grocery stores, playing little part in providing good service directly to you.
Only the end-to-end shoppers who drive, shop, and deliver your grocery needs can receive tips.
2. Does Instacart take any commissions from the tip I give?
The platform’s payment structure only gives a small portion of the service fee to the delivery workers, but 100% of your tip amount goes to your delivery driver, helping them make a sustainable living wage.
3. Does the delivery fee go to the driver?
The delivery fee is not given to the shoppers. And you won’t be charged a delivery fee if you take membership in Instacart’s Express Subscription.
4. Is it a good idea to tip in cash?
Instacart is a cashless app where you do not need cash to place an order. You can select any of the digital payment methods to pay for the order and the tip. The app accepts UPI payments from Google Pay, Apple Pay and accepts all major debit and credit cards.
You can tip the worker directly through the in-app system. But here are a few reasons you should use cash to tip the delivery worker:
- To appreciate the worker directly with a generous tip
- It is an excellent way to ensure that your entire tip amount goes directly to the worker and doesn’t go through any middleman and commission charges.
The pandemic has resulted in contactless delivery, which minimizes direct contact between the shoppers and the customer. You can put the cash in an envelope for the delivery driver to collect when they leave your grocery order at your doorstep.
5. Does Instacart have customer support to help me out when there’s a problem with my order?
Yes, there is an Instacart customer support team that you can contact to solve issues like damaged or missing items. When the actual delivery takes place, the app displays a rating screen with an option to report various problems, if there are any.
You can directly contact the customer support team in cases of major issues by emailing them or calling at 1-888-246-7822. This toll-free number is available 24/7.
Final Word
A gig worker’s income is highly dependent on tips, and by paying tips through cash or in-app, you can help them make a sustainable living wage. The Instacart platform may not have made it mandatory to tip the delivery workers, but keep in mind that their hourly income takes a massive hit when you opt-out from tipping them.
If your delivery driver goes above and beyond to offer you excellent service, then you should reward them by tipping them generously. It would be best if you tried not to cut down on tips to save money. You can save some money on your orders using an Instacart Express subscription, promo code, and referral code.