Rite Aid Gets in Grocery Delivery Game With Instacart

Rite Aid is the latest retailer to throw its hat in the grocery delivery ring, forging a new partnership with Instacart that will allow customers to order healthcare and grocery items—but no prescription medications—to be delivered directly to their homes. This marks the first time Rite Aid will be offering same- or next-day delivery.

“At Rite Aid, we are focused on providing our customers and communities with the essentials they need during these unprecedented times,” said Rite Aid Chief Operating Officer Jim Peters in a statement. “To further enhance our services, we have teamed up with Instacart to offer our customers another convenient method of shopping at Rite Aid from the safety and comfort of home.”

Instacart delivery is now available from Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid’s more than 2,400 locations across 18 states. Customers can visit either the Rite Aid or Instacart websites to access a full catalog of healthcare and grocery products from their local store.

An Instacart personal shopper will pick, pack and deliver available products within the customer’s designated time frame. Currently, all Instacart orders default to “Leave at My Door Delivery” in order to maintain social distance and allow customers to receive deliveries safely. 

As demand for grocery delivery has skyrocketed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, San Francisco-based Instacart has launched or expanded with 36 retailers to offer delivery from nearly 2,700 new stores on the Instacart marketplace since March 1. The company has also launched Instacart Pickup from more than 400 new locations since the beginning of March.

The grocery delivery company, which has made headlines of late for hiring hundreds of thousands of new employee shoppers and announcing its intent to rapidly hire hundreds of thousands more, seems to be getting its arms around skyrocketing demand in the face of COVID-19. Instacart reports that last week, more than 90% of all orders were delivered the same day or next day.

This is a win for Instacart, which has been challenged to offer its scores of new and existing customers prompt delivery given unprecedented demand. Instacart’s order volume is up by as much as 500% year over year during the past several months and average customer basket size is up by more than 35%.

“We know people and families are depending on delivery to get their groceries and household essentials now more than ever, and we’re proud to partner with Rite Aid to offer customers another stay-at-home shopping alternative in the wake of COVID-19," said Nilam Ganenthiran, president of Instacart, in a release.

“Bringing Rite Aid’s broad selection of healthcare and grocery products online will give customers more access to the goods they need, delivered directly from the store to their door,” added Ganenthiran.

While delivery of prescription medications will not be offered through Instacart, each Rite Aid location offers options for drive-thru, curbside and home delivery.