King Soopers grocery delivery is powered by Instacart. Normally, this is enough to make me break out in a sweat, but King Soopers has opted for a hybrid experience: half King Soopers and half Instacart.

Here is how King Soopers grocery delivery works, and why it's unique. And don't forget to keep up on all the King Soopers coupons and deals.

Create a King Soopers Rewards card and an account if you don't have one.

King Soopers Store Sign

Download the King Soopers mobile app, because you want to shop from either the King Soopers app or KingSoopers.com since it's a cheaper and better experience, which I will get to in a minute.

If you don't have an account, the app will create one and link it for you. If you do have an account, put your number in and link it to the app.

This way you can "clip" digital coupons and apply them to your account from the app or website.

Shop from the King Soopers app or KingSoopers.com for grocery delivery.

Using either King Soopers service gives you access to all the coupons and the same prices you'd find in store. (You wouldn't get the same experience with Instacart.)

The prices in the King Soopers app or at KingSoopers.com are the same online as they are in store.

If you've ever used Instacart, you know why this is a big deal. Grocery stores will mark up Instacart prices as much as 20% compared to in store in order to recoup the fees they have to pay Instacart.

That's the kicker I hinted at above: if you don't shop directly through KingSoopers.com, you'll pay higher prices! If you shop through Instacart, you will not be happy with the markup.

King Soopers charges $9.95 for delivery per grocery order.

Your next question was probably this: How does King Soopers recoup the cost for delivery services? They charge $9.95 per delivery. There is no minimum amount for deliveries.

You can choose contactless delivery, so the driver leaves it on your porch.

If you belong to Instacart Express, you have math in your future.

Maybe you belong to Instacart Express, since you use Instacart so much and this helps you save on delivery fees? For stores that are all in, or exclusively use Instacart for deliveries, you can save with Instacart Express. But for stores like King Soopers that are half-in, you either:

  1. Pay the $9.95 at KingSoopers.com and get better prices by taking advantage of sales and promos and digital coupons;

  2. Or you shop through Instacart.com, use your Express membership and don't pay the delivery fee, and pay more/don't get the sales or promos/not as many coupons.

Bottom line: You have some math in your future if you belong to Instacart Express.

Here's an example. Say you buy about $100 worth of groceries at KingSoopers.com, save about $20 with coupons and promos but pay the $9.95 delivery fee. You pay $90 for those groceries, so you're still saving about $10. Then let's say those same products on Instacart, once you apply their coupons and pay their other fees and tip, cost about $95, saving you about $5. In this case, you're better off paying the $9.95 on KingSoopers.com and saving five more bucks, even though it might pain you to pay the delivery fee.

Make substitutions in the app.

You can tell your shopper to substitute any out of stock items in the app.

If your items are out of stock, King Soopers will give you a substitution.

A shopping cart with bananas in the basket, next to a shelf filled with cereal.

If one of the items you ordered is out of stock, a King Soopers associate will replace it with the same item in a larger quantity, according to their policy. If that brand isn't available, they'll replace it with a similar or better product and sell it to you for the original, lower price.

Clip and apply any available digital coupons.

King Soopers digital coupon offers come off your order total. During promotional events, King Soopers will let you redeem one digital coupon up to five times! These are common and happen every few months.

King Soopers recently changed their coupon policy to state that you only get one coupon per item, period. You can't stack store coupons with manufacturer coupons anymore, according to their policy, but...

...every store is different. We know this because we've tested it. That being said, you can always give it a try and see what happens.

You can't get a paper receipt with your delivery.

This matters because rebate and cash back apps need you to scan your paper receipt in order to give you the deals. When Clicklist was around, you could request a paper receipt. But customer service tells us you can't get that anymore. However, it doesn't hurt to ask in the description for your order.