By Lori Bosworth
Grocery shopping can be a huge time waster, especially on the weekends when time is so precious. And of course, this is compounded in the winter when unpredictable weather can make it difficult to get to the grocery store. Fortunately, InstaBuggy offers grocery delivery straight to your home from your favourite grocery store in as little as an hour. The service is available in Toronto and the GTA. [Disclosure: I was given the opportunity to try InstaBuggy on a complimentary basis in order to complete my blog post.]
Participating grocery stores in the Toronto area include Sobeys Urban Fresh, FreshCo, Summerhill Market, Organic Garage, Rexall Pharma Plus, Galati Market Fresh, Healthy Planet, Concord Foods, Costco, PetSmart and LCBO. Having said that, you still have to check InstaBuggy’s coverage map to see which stores in your neighbourhood participate in Instabuggy.
I began my search on InstaBuggy and noticed that FreshCo’s coverage map includes my area (Leslieville) so I decided to place an order from FreshCo. Selecting items on InstaBuggy is easy: you just find the item you want and then add the quantity of the item you want to your cart. Once you have selected all of your items, you click on the Checkout tab, double-check that the items in your cart are accurate and then click on the Checkout Now tab. You’ll have to add your address and credit card information and then InstaBuggy will calculate the total amount owing including service fees. InstaBuggy charges a set Picking, Packing and Delivery Fee of $19.98 plus HST regardless of the total amount of your grocery order. There is no minimum order required on InstaBuggy.
Once I was ready to check out, I added notes under each grocery item to indicate what I wanted my grocery shopper to purchase in the event that FreshCo was out of the item I had requested. This is a very important step because you want to clearly communicate what substitute item you would like, otherwise you leave it up to the grocery shopper’s discretion.
I entered my address and credit card information and chose a delivery time of between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. that day. I placed my order at 2:02 p.m. and received an email confirmation of my order within a minute.
I was pleased to receive a phone call from my InstaBuggy grocery shopper around 3:45 p.m. advising me that he would be shopping my order soon and asking whether I wanted to add anything to my order, which I did not. I received another phone call from my shopper at 4:21 p.m. advising that he would be at my place in 10 minutes.
My grocery shopper arrived at my place around 4:30 p.m. and apologized that he had bought Crunchy Almond Butter instead of the Smooth Almond Butter that I had ordered. He offered to go back to the store and exchange it, but I told him not to bother as it wasn’t a big deal. I gave him a tip at the door and thanked him.
I unpacked my groceries and was pleased with the selection. My grocery shopper had found each item except for the Compliments Organic Brown eggs, (which I assume were out of stock at FreshCo), but had purchased Conestoga Farms Free Range Brown eggs, which is the substitute item I had requested.
I’m very pleased with InstaBuggy’s service and by the way, the Crunchy Almond Butter tastes great!
That is an awesome service! I would totally use them if I still lived in Toronto. I really like Grocery Gateway too! Everything was always super fresh but I hated that you had to order 2 or 3 days in advance. Same day delivery is a huge selling point!
This seems like a great idea. Thanks for highlighting it on your blog. I’ll have to look more into this.
This is very interesting Grocery gateway is another great place to buy food online.I have used them before and they are also good.
I really love this idea, i really like you can pick your favourite store within the participating retailers. I would use this service if it was available here for certain items but meat, veggies and bread i could never trust someones judgement
Great looking Delivery service I will be happy to use for sure.
Would love if this was offered in my city . I’ll have to look into it . It would be such a time saver
This would really help me. Our family has been so sick this entire month. No one could go out and get groceries. You should have seen my fridge. I’ve never seen it so bare.
This is a pretty cool service! Thank you for sharing your experience with us 💖
Sign me right up!
I received notification of the delivery service for Loblaws. I shop all over the GTA due to the fact that the meals I make are mostly Asian (Japanese). Their ingredients are sold in Japanese, Korean and Chinese grocery stores only so, I won’t be able to utilize this service unless I am going to overhaul my budget, time, meal plan, etc.
I love where shopping is headed. Not everyone enjoys the experience nor has the time.
I prefer shopping in a store. Its an experience each time
Yes, that’s true. Some people enjoy the shopping experience! Cheers, Lori
Super convenient and saves a lot of time! Can’t wait to try it
I want to try this service
Looks interesting, I might check it out!
This is good to know info. Next time I am sick with the flu I will try this service
Hi Sarah, Yes, this would be great if you are housebound for any reason! Cheers, Lori
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