Effective immediately, three grocery stores in Greater Sudbury are offering home delivery for groceries through a third-party company, Instacart.
The stores are Real Canadian Superstore, Your Independent Grocer and Valu-Mart.
A news release Thursday said Loblaws began offering the service using Instacart in Toronto last December, and is now rolling it out to Sudbury.
Depending on how popular it is with customer, the company could hire as many as 100 people to be “personal shoppers” – the people who actually collect and deliver the groceries.
“Sudbury area residents can now get groceries and everyday essentials delivered right to their doorsteps, same-day, through Instacart as part of their expanding partnership with Loblaws Companies Ltd.,” the release said.
Instacart charges a 7.5-per-cent service fee on all orders, plus $3.99 on orders more than $35 or $7.99 for orders up to $35. It’s $2 more to get groceries in an hour and there’s a higher fee when you want delivery during high demand hours.
The company also offers a $149 membership with unlimited same-day grocery delivery on orders more than $35.
There's also an Instacart app customers can use to not only order their groceries, but watch in real-time as the shopper gathers each item on the grocery list. You can communicate with the shopper if you want to change your order.
Each store's website has a list of their products, departments and prices. Delivery hours match store hours.
For more information, visit Instacart's website.
