Schnucks, Instacart Launch St. Louis' First Curbside Pickup Program

Just days after Instacart revealed the national expansion of its pickup program, Schnuck Markets revealed it will become the first traditional food retailer in the St. Louis market to offer the service, in partnership with the e-commerce company. 

The 119-store retailer will launch curbside pickup at four of its stores in its hometown of St. Louis and has plans to expand the program to four more area stores in January 2019. Schnucks officials said after the first eight stores are online, it aspires to extend the program's reach to other stores in the future.

Schnucks first partnered with Instacart in 2017 to launch its home delivery program, Schnucks Delivers, which is now available in all of its geographical areas, inclusive of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa. 

Schnucks VP of Marketing Ted Schnuck said the program will allow its customers who "lead busy lives" to easily shop online for groceries and pick them up at a time that is convenient for them and works with their "daily work commute, while transporting kids to or from school, or while running other errands. This is another way for Schnucks to continue to meet the changing needs of our customers and their families, by delivering to their home, office and, now, to their car," Schnuck said.

Through the program, shoppers can order groceries and choose a time that is convenient for them between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. to have them delivered to their car.

Schnucks also recently announced at the recent Grocery Shop conference in Las Vegas that it's deploying a robot called Tally that will autonomously scan shelves for inventory and price accuracy at 15 stores.

Schnucks stores now offering curbside pickup include:

● 1950 Zumbehl Road, St. Charles, Mo. 

● 1060 Woods Mill Road, Town and Country, Mo.  

● 6600 Clayton Road, Richmond Heights, Mo. 

● 5055 Arsenal St., St. Louis, Mo. 

Additional Schnucks stores to offer curbside pickup in January 2019 include:

● 4333 Butler Hill Road, St. Louis, Mo.

● 12756 Olive Blvd., Creve Coeur, Mo.

● 10233 Manchester Road, Kirkwood, Mo.

● 13987 New Halls Ferry Road, Florissant, Mo.

No fee will apply for orders of more than $35 for Schnucks Delivers Express members, while the cost for nonmembers will be $1.99. Processing fees on orders less than $35 will be $5.99.