Tops expands Instacart delivery

This month, Tops Friendly Markets plans to bring same-day online grocery delivery through Instacart to another 10 stores.

Tops said Thursday that, with the expansion, 129 of its 159 supermarkets will offer Instacart’s service, reaching more than 90% of the regional grocer’s customers.

Instacart delivery is slated to begin today at Tops stores in Frewsburg and North Boston, N.Y., and in Canton, Pa. That will be followed with launches of the service on Feb. 28 at Tops locations in Owego, Cooperstown, Norwich and Lowville, N.Y., and in Troy, Sayre and Towanda, Pa.

Williamsville, N.Y.-based Tops announced its partnership with Instacart in November 2017 and launched the delivery service in the Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y., markets and the Erie, Pa., area later that month. The grocery chain’s stores are in New York, northern Pennsylvania and Vermont.

“This is Tops’ ninth expansion of Instacart services since its launch in 2017 and one of our largest expansions in Pennsylvania,” Jillian Sirica, manager of digital marketing for Tops, said in a statement. “We love being able to give our shoppers back time in their already busy schedules and with this expansion we’re able to positively impact even more customers.”

Tops noted that the Instacart partnership extends the reach of its stores, providing access to online grocery shopping and delivery for customers in both urban and rural areas. Shoppers using the service can order most products available in stores, including thousands of items in frozen, produce, meat, seafood and prepared foods. Delivery can be scheduled for one or two hours, depending on the availability of Instacart personal shoppers. Customers can see delivery times for their area after creating a shopping list and then clicking “checkout” on Instacart’s virtual store.

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To promote the service, Tops is offering customers $15 off their first Instacart order of $35 or more through March 30 when they enter the code “Tops15” at TopsMarkets.com/Instacart. The grocer said members of the Tops BonusPlus card and GasPoints programs also can access savings, rewards and points when using Instacart.

During 2018, Tops introduced Instacart delivery at 44 stores. In October, the supermarket chain also launched an Instacart-powered click-and-collect service dubbed Tops Grocery Pick Up at stores in Hamburg, Williamsville and Tonawanda, N.Y.

Also making its debut last fall was TopsOrganics.com, an online store offering thousands of natural, organic, gluten-free and minimally processed products, including national brands and Tops’ Full Circle organics private label.

Related:Tops set to debut curbside pickup