Meijer kicks off online grocery delivery with Instacart

Supercenter retailer Meijer has launched same-day online grocery delivery through Instacart at virtually all of its 256 stores in six Midwestern states.

San Francisco-based Instacart said Thursday that delivery service from Meijer spans thousands of items, including groceries and household essentials plus a breadth of general merchandise, such as home decor, toys and crafts, garden, sports and outdoor, office, electronics and other products. Customers can receive their Meijer orders at their doors in as soon as an hour, according to Instacart.

To place Instacart orders, Meijer customers go to instacart.com/meijer, enter their ZIP code, select their local store and begin adding items to their virtual cart. Orders are picked, packed and delivered by Instacart personal shopper in the customer’s designated time frame, which can be on the same day or scheduled in advance. 

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer operates supercenters and grocery stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois and Wisconsin.

“Meijer is an iconic, family-owned grocer that has served families across the Midwest for more than 85 years,” Instacart President Nilam Ganenthiran said in a statement. “Through our new partnership, we’re bringing Meijer’s incredible selection online for customers, giving Meijer customers access to everything they need from the comfort and safety of their home.”

Related:Meijer serves up free pickup for the holidays

The Instacart partnership expands Meijer’s same-day delivery options for customers at a time of high demand for online grocery services, driven by customer concerns about shopping in brick-and-mortar stores because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meijer already offered home delivery and pickup through its stores via Shipt, a Birmingham, Ala.-based subsidiary of Target Corp., since piloting the service in September 2016.

“Customers rely on Instacart to get the groceries and goods they need from the retailers they love, and today we’re proud to welcome Meijer to our marketplace so they can further connect with their customers online,” Ganenthiran commented.

Currently, Instacart partners with more than 500 local, regional and national retailers and delivers from nearly 40,000 store locations across the United States and Canada. Its delivery and pickup services are available in more than 5,500 cities in North America, reaching over 85% of U.S. households and more than 70% of Canadian households.