Shipt Review: 5 Things To Know Before Your First Order

Getting groceries delivered to your home has never been easier. If you’ve looked into grocery delivery services, you may have come across Shipt.

I ordered from Shipt to try it out, and I’ll be sharing my experience and giving you some tips for using the service.

In this article, I’ll take a look at five things to know before placing your first Shipt order.

This article was updated in November 2023 and I review it every 6 months. Detailed notes on all updates can be found here.

5 Things To Know About Shipt Grocery Delivery

Ordering your groceries online is a great way to cut down on time spent at the store and money spent on impulse buys. And there are other benefits including the ability to compare prices quickly between stores. 

Of course, the process is different from your traditional shopping trip, and grocery delivery isn’t free. To find out exactly how much more you can expect to pay with Shipt, I compared the prices of individual items from the app to prices at a store near me — and noted the cost differences below.

If you’re thinking about placing an order through Shipt, here are a few things you should know before getting started:

• What Is Shipt?
• How Much Does Shipt Cost?
• Which Stores Does Shipt Work With?
• How Does Shipt Work?
• Pros & Cons of Shipt

In each section, you’ll find detailed information about Shipt including a step-by-step guide to placing your first order. By the end of this article, it should be easy to decide whether or not the grocery delivery service is right for you.

What Is Shipt?

Shipt is a website and an app (available on iOS and Android) that lets you order groceries and other household items online and have them delivered to your home. Downloading the app and creating an account is free, but to place an order you have to buy a membership. 

With Shipt, you can choose from a selection of participating stores in your area. Once you’ve placed your order, a personal shopper will pick up your items, notify you of any out-of-stock products, update your order and deliver your groceries during a time slot that you select. Some locations also offer grocery pickup services. 

To see if Shipt is available in your area, enter your ZIP code here.

How Much Does Shipt Cost?

Before you can place an order through Shipt, you’ll have to pay for an annual or monthly membership or purchase Shipt Passes. The annual membership costs $99 per year, which works out to $8.25 a month. The monthly membership costs $10.99 per month. The student membership costs $4.99 per month for 4 years or until graduation. Alternatively, you can use a Shipt Pass. Shipt Passes are basically a one-time delivery fee. You can purchase a Shipt Pass before placing an order or at checkout with most retailers. Each Shipt Pass costs $10. You can also get three for $27 or five for $40.

Annual members get free delivery for orders of $35 and over. Orders less than $35 will incur a flat $7 delivery fee which will be added to your total. There is no order minimum if you use a Shipt Pass.

The prices of individual items will vary slightly from in-store pricing to help cover convenience costs. Shipt’s website says members can expect to pay about $5 more using Shipt than they would on a $35 order purchased in a store. 

To see exactly how much the prices varied between what I paid on Shipt and what I would have paid at Meijer, I looked at each product that I had ordered. I compared the prices from my receipt to the prices online at the same store. Recently, I re-shopped the same list on Shipt and at Meijer to compare the price differences. Here’s what I found in November 2023.

	Shipt	Meijer
Red Delicious Apples	$5.79	$4.99
Carnation Evaporated Milk (x2)	$2.98	$2.38
Meijer All Natural Pork Loin Center Cut Chops Bone-In	$7.28	$4.36
Meijer Fabric Softener Dryer Sheets	$5.49	$4.99
Creamette Angel Hair Pasta	$1.64	$1.45
Smithfield Hometown Original Smoked Bacon	$7.59	$6.99
Gold Medal All Purpose Flour	$4.67	$4.49
Total:	$35.44	$29.65

As of November 2023, I saw a price difference of $5.79 between Shipt and Meijer, which remained pretty consistent.

In addition to product markups, some of Shipt’s retail partners also include a small service fee that’s added during checkout. When I placed my order from Meijer, I was happy to find there were no additional fees.

Which Stores Does Shipt Work With?

Shipt is owned by Target, but you can use it to get groceries and household essentials delivered from a variety of stores near you.

According to the website, Shipt partners with HEB, Meijer, LIDL, Target, Winn Dixie, Costco, Lowes Foods, Piggly Wiggly, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits and many more. 

To see which stores partner with Shipt in your area, enter your location on the website or app. You’ll be able to shop at any store on the list. But keep in mind that you can purchase products from only one store per order. 

How Does Shipt Work?

Shipt works by sending your grocery list to a personal shopper who will pick up your items and deliver them to you. 

Before you get started, make sure Shipt is available in your area. Once you’ve confirmed that it is, follow these steps to place your first order: 

1. Download the App or Sign Up Online

First, you’ll need to download the Shipt app (iOS or Android) or create an account online. While it doesn’t cost anything to create an account or download the app, keep in mind you will have to pay for a membership or Shipt Pass before you place your first order.

To create an account, just enter your name and email address and then create a password. Once you’ve established an account online or through the app, you can use that same information to log in either way.

2. Enter Your Location and Choose Your Store

Once you’ve signed in, enter the address where you want your items delivered. From there, you’ll see a list of stores in your area that partner with Shipt. For my first delivery, I chose Meijer, but it’s easy to change the store for subsequent orders.

If you’re shopping at a store where you have a rewards card or membership, you can enter that information by clicking “Account” and then clicking “Rewards.” You’ll also have the option to add this information during checkout.

3. Fill Your Shopping Cart

Now you’re ready to start shopping. You can browse by category, what’s on sale, or you can search the whole site. After you place your first order, the site will prompt you to consider adding to your order from a selection of recommended and previously ordered items.

I made my grocery list before I went online, and that helped me stay focused on what I needed. It also made it easier to track my total and save even more time. I searched for each product on my list and browsed the available selections. 

Take the time to compare prices between brands and sizes. Once you’ve decided on a product you’d like to buy, click the plus sign or the “Add to Cart” button. When you’re finished shopping, click on your shopping cart, review your items and continue to the checkout screen.

4. Choose a Membership Plan

If this is your first time placing a Shipt order, you’ll have to choose and pay for a membership plan or a Shipt Pass before you’re able to check out. When I tried out Shipt, I was prompted to choose a plan right before I was about to place my order. 

Fortunately, the monthly plan option shown above is now $10.99 per month. The annual plan is advertised as the best value and works out to $8.25 monthly. This subscription will require you to pay $99 the day you place your first order. Note that this subscription will automatically renew each year until you cancel it.

Alternatively, you can purchase a Shipt Pass for $10. This is basically a one-time delivery fee. You can save a little money here by purchasing three Shipt Passes for $27 or five for $40.

To decide which option is best for you, consider how often you plan to order from the Shipt partner stores in your area and whether you think ordering through Shipt will be a regular thing for you beyond the next order or two.

5. Select Your Delivery Time and Substitution Preferences

Once you’ve chosen membership or Shipt Passes, you’re ready to place your order. On the checkout screen, enter your phone number, verify your delivery address and choose your payment method. 

Below these boxes, you’ll be able to select a delivery time. Depending on when you place your order, you may be able to get your groceries delivered the same day. You can also choose a delivery window several days in advance for most stores. After you choose a time slot, you may be asked if it’s OK for your shopper to drop off your groceries early. You can choose yes or no. 

For your substitution preferences, you can select one of three options: “Contact me so I can choose,” “Choose for me” or “Do not substitute.”

Once you have verified all of your information, chosen a delivery time and indicated your substitution preferences, you can review your total and click “Place Order.”

6. Be Available To Receive Your Order

You can make changes to your order right up until your shopper begins working on your list. You’ll get a text from your shopper when they begin shopping for you, and you can reply to them directly. 

If your shopper needs to contact you about substitutions or out-of-stock items, they’ll text you from the store. 

Finally, be ready to receive your order within the time frame you selected. You’ll receive a text when your shopper is on the way.

My order was delivered within the first half-hour of my selected time slot. 

Pros & Cons of Shipt

Overall, Shipt is a reliable grocery delivery service that brings household essentials to your door. Still, there are a few drawbacks to ordering groceries online. After using Shipt myself, here are the biggest pros and cons I found. 

Pros

• Convenience: Shipt helps you save time shopping for groceries and other household items. You can place your order from your phone or laptop, track its progress online, receive updates and get your delivery without having to leave home. That also means you’ll be less tempted to make impulse purchases.
• Same-Day Delivery: You can get your groceries delivered as soon as one hour after you place your order. You can also schedule your order for delivery several days in advance at a time that’s convenient for you.
• Variety: Depending on your area, you can shop from a big selection of stores. This also makes it easy to compare prices before deciding where to place your order.

Cons

• Membership Fees and Shipt Passes: Unlike other grocery delivery options, Shipt offers a monthly, annual and student membership option that you’ll need to buy before placing any orders. You can also purchase Shipt Passes, but they’re good for only one delivery and cost $10 each. If you do go for a membership, just be sure you plan on placing at least one order each month to make the membership price worth it. Also, some Visa credit cards offer a free trial of Shipt. Be sure to check to see if your credit card participates.
• Higher Prices: Shipt prices are slightly higher than in-store prices to help cover the costs of picking, packing and processing your groceries. On average, you can expect to pay about $5 more per $35 order than you would in-store.

Although I’d used other grocery delivery services before, this was the first time I’d placed an order with Shipt. The app and the website both were very easy to navigate, and I was pleasantly surprised by the selection of stores in my area. The quality of the food I got was excellent, and I had no problems placing and receiving my order. Of course, the higher pricing and membership fees were definite downsides.

Do you have experience using Shipt? Let us know in our Clark.com Community!