With Instacart, you’re paying for convenience. But that doesn’t mean you need to overpay for convenience. Yes, it’s totally possible to coupon with Instacart. But it works a little differently from couponing in-store or even ordering delivery or curbside pickup directly from the store itself.
If you fully understand the drawbacks of using Instacart (like those markups) and know where to find coupons, you can save money on Instacart while getting convenient delivery. I’ll walk you through how I saved 60% on my recent Instacart order.
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To save at Instacart, you need to understand the drawbacks and advantages.
If you’re new to Instacart, familiarize yourself with the pros and cons before you get caught up in the convenience factor.
Disadvantages to Instacart:
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You can’t always use store offers . For example, you can’t get Target’s gift card with purchase offers when you order on Instacart.
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You can’t always get in-store-only clearance deals . Some stores, like Michaels and Target, run in-store-only seasonal clearance deals that vary by store and aren’t listed online. You have to go in-store to get those.
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Instacart marks up prices at many stores . Not all of them, though. As you browse Instacart, look for the “In-Store Prices” flag, which indicates that there’s no markup.
How much is that Instacart markup exactly?
Generally, markups vary from around 5% to as much as 25%, depending on the product.
Here are a few of the markups we found when we checked our local stores vs. Instacart in Austin, Texas:
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Strawberries, 1 lb: $3.89 on Instacart vs. $3.19 at local Target. That’s a 22% markup . (Plus, Target had an offer for $15 off when you spent $75 on food and beverages, which you couldn’t get on Instacart.)
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Store-Brand Whole Milk, 1 gal: $3.99 on Instacart vs. $3.42 at local HEB grocery store. That’s a 17% markup.
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Listerine Cool Mint, 250 mL: $4.79 on Instacart vs. $4.49 at local Walgreens. That’s a 6% markup.
Advantages to Instacart:
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The convenience factor . You get fast delivery, no need to go to a store.
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It’s a one-stop shop that serves a lot of stores . Instead of creating accounts with Target, Walgreens, a pet supply store, and your local grocery store, you create one account with Instacart to shop them all.
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Instacart has digital coupons that you can use on your order . They’re easy to clip and apply to your order. These even include some store weekly ad offers as well as manufacturer coupons, depending on the store and the brands you're shopping.
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You can add certain loyalty/membership cards to Instacart and get your membership benefits and points . Some stores that allow you to do this are Costco, Sephora, and Kohl’s.
How I Saved More Than $90 (60%) on My Instacart Grocery Order:
For my order, I used Instacart to order from Sprouts. Not only do they offer the same prices on Instacart that they do in stores (no markup) , but they have some generous coupons, BOGOs, and offers. Your mileage may vary, depending on which offers you get and which store you’re shopping at. But in general, these are the coupons you’ll want to layer to save the most on your Instacart order.
1. If you’re a new user, make sure you’re getting a discount on your first order.
If you’re new to Instacart, don't place your first order until Instacart has made you an offer. In fact, I suggest signing up and waiting a bit. When I signed up with a new email address, Instacart offered me $10 off, then $25 off about a week later, and then a whopping $50 off a $100 order.
To use an offer, just hit “Redeem,” from your email, and it’ll be added to your Instacart account once you hit the minimum spending amount. Keep in mind that you’ll need to hit the minimum amount after all manufacturer discounts and store-specific promos are applied.
2. If you're not a new user, look for a store-specific offer.
Log in to your Instacart account and see which stores have their own offers. I found a $15 off offer for orders of $85 or more at Sprouts. Keep in mind you can’t use a spend offer like this alongside the new-customer offer above. It’s either-or. The $50 discount was the bigger one, so I went with that, and I'll use the $15 discount on my next order.
3. Look for weekly ad deals.
Sometimes, store weekly offers will be available on Instacart. For example, when I shopped, Sprouts was offering weeklong BOGO offers in stores, and these were all available on Instacart too.
4. Look for manufacturer coupons.
Some brands make their digital manufacturer coupons available through Instacart. You’ll see these below eligible products. All you have to do is hit “Apply Coupon,” and the discount will be taken off at checkout. I found manufacturer offers ranging between $0.50 and $5.
5. Get free delivery.
New users get their first three orders of $10 or more delivered for free. You can always sign up for a new account with a different email address to get more free deliveries. Another way to get free delivery is to get Instacart+ ($99 per year), which always gives you free grocery delivery on orders of $10 or more.
If you don’t have Instacart+, standard delivery is $7.99.
Grand Total Saved: $93.83 (60%)
Without coupons and offers, my order was originally $136.75, but I paid just $54.58. Here’s the breakdown of what I saved:
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Coupons and Weekly Offers: $35.84
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New User Discount: $50
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Free Delivery: $7.99
If this wasn’t my first order, I’d have gotten the $15 off from Sprouts and would have saved $58.83.
Remember, if you're shopping somewhere with markups, you’ll need to take those into account. And don’t forget to tip based on the original amount of your order, not the discounted amount.
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