by Use these promo Codes to save money on grocery pickup and delivery options with Instacart, Walmart, PC Express/Loblaws brand stores and Metro.
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in this post are affiliate links. Please read my affiliate disclosure here.
With three young children and a constant laundry list of things to do, I absolutely love the new grocery pick up options available.
Current Grocery Delivery and Pickup Options
Instacart
After Instacart became available in my area, I was really excited about having my groceries delivered to my door. So I immediately looked into it, but was turned off by the high delivery fees and the fact that the prices in the app were more than in the store.
Once it settled in and established itself. I looked into becoming a driver. I did one delivery and it really wasn’t bad! Soon after, however, they changed their payment structure, in a way that cut into the drivers’ earnings.
Where before drivers received a delivery fee for the delivery and a tip on top, Instacart changed it to incorporate the tip into the delivery fee. Soon drivers began to notice that the company was using the tips to supplement the drivers’ income and keep the difference for themselves.
This is a bit confusing, so a basic example is that once upon a time the driver would receive $10 (hypothetically) for the delivery. The person would then give them a $5 tip, so they would earn $15 for the delivery. After the changes, when a customer would put in the $5 tip amount, Instacart would offer a $5 delivery payment, instead of the prior $10. Thus the driver would make $10 instead of $15.
If you order through Instacart and want to ensure the driver’s tip is just that, then simply put 22 cents in the tip option. This will keep the company from reducing the driver’s payout and let’s the driver know that they will be tipped afterwards (you can tip through the app after, or with cash at the door).
Walmart
Soon after Instacart came up on my radar, Walmart started offering grocery pickup. Initially there was a small fee, but pick up is now free.
I was absolutely delighted by this new feature and used it frequently. Being able to price match items through the site was a happy bonus, and I loved the convenience. With 3 young kids, being able to simply input my groceries, pull into a parking spot and have my groceries brought out to my car was seriously a life saver.
The pros of the Walmart grocery pickup (for me) are the ability to price match, the convenience and the lack of fees. I also like the fact that the prices are the same as advertised, so sales and promotions can be taken advantage of.
But, there are some cons. Namely, not being able to use coupons and that the order has to be placed the day before. I don’t always know what my schedule will be like tomorrow, and don’t love having to plan that far ahead. There is also a $50 order minimum.
The other great benefits that Walmart grocery pickup offers is promo codes and referral bonuses. Every once and a while they release promo codes to save a predetermined amount (usually $10) off an order, and they offer $10 credits for each person that you refer. These little bits certainly add up to some great savings!
Nevertheless, the Walmart grocery pick up option is definitely great! If you haven’t used it yet, sign up with this link and you will get $10 off your first order of $50 or more.
PC Express
I love the PC Optimum program and was absolutely thrilled when PC Express rolled out. I do most of my shopping at Fortinos, since it has the best produce of the stores local to me. I also collect so many PC Optimum points, that I am able to save large amounts each month.
Much like Walmart pickup, you simply enter your order on the PC Express app, pull into a parking space, give the store a call and then someone comes out and loads your groceries into your car. AMAZING!
PC Express does have a fee. Depending on the time that pickup is arranged, the fee is either $3 or $5. However, becoming a PC Insider gives you free grocery pickups for a year! The annual fee is $99, but when you sign up through this link using code EF1438, you can save 25% off the PC Insiders annual fee.
I love the PC Express program for a number of reasons, including:
a) Collecting PC Optimum points
b) Being able to redeem PC Optimum points on purchases
c) Being able to use coupons
d) Getting referral bonuses (10,000 points for each person who signs up with your code)
e) 95% of the time, getting a little thank you gift bag of goodies for using the service.
f) Ability to pick up the same day an order is placed.
g) Getting Loblaws brand quality food
h) Prices are the same as in the flyer and store
i) $30 order minimum
Metro
I gave Metro delivery a try for the first time Saturday and I was pleasantly surprised.
Since I already subscribe to the Metro newsletter, I have been aware of their grocery delivery service for a while. However, with a fee of $11.99, I’ve shied away from it. In the spring they offered an enticing bbq gift pack when people placed their first order, but the delivery times were always for several days in the future, which really didn’t work for me.
Nevertheless, Saturday was pretty stormy and I was feeling a little under the weather, but needed food. I really didn’t want to go out and shop for groceries, or even pickup, so I decided to sneak a peek at what Metro had to offer.
When I looked on the site, I noticed that they had a $50 in product back to school bundle for first time orders. Tempted, I decided to look at the available time slots and saw that they had delivery available between 6-8pm that night! Despite the delivery fee, I decided to place the order and get the goodies.
Placing the order was super easy. I actually just used their mobile website (which sometimes aren’t very user friendly when placing orders). Since the prices for delivery are the same as the prices in the flyer and in store, I took a quick look through the flyer to see what was on sale to make sure my cart met the $50 minimum.
At checkout time, I entered promo code FREEBUNDLE and had my awesome welcome kit included in my delivery.
The items I received were:
Box of Special K Protein Cereal
Dole Bountiful Salad Kit
Dempsters Tortillas
Irresistibles Coffee
Premier Moison Bread
Box of Rice Krispies Treats
Bunch of Bananas
Lightlife Plant Based Ground Beef
Yop Smoothie
Irresitibles Artisan Chicken Breast
Jif Peanut Butter
Oasis Juice Boxes
Summer Fresh Hummus and crackers
All of that for putting in a grocery order that was delivered to my door for $11.99!!!
Plus, my next 3 deliveries of $50 or more (before October 9th, 2019) are free with codes: FREESHIPPING2 FREESHIPPING3 FREESHIPPING4
Tipping the driver is optional, but I am a firm believer in tipping. So, I will simply have cash on hand to tip as there isn’t an option to add a tip to the order.
I will definitely be using the free shipping codes as I absolutely love the convenience of having my groceries delivered right to me. My order was mainly produce and the quality was on par with what I would have chosen myself. Plus, I earned Airmiles on my purchase too!
Do you use grocery delivery services? If so, which one’s your favourite?
