I tried grocery delivery service, Shipt, and am never turning back

I’m obsessed.

Shipt, an on-demand grocery delivery service, has launched in Charlotte. For a monthly or annual fee, the company hires trained shoppers to pick up your groceries from Publix and bring them to you while you live your life.

I was skeptical before I tried the service out, but I’m so glad I did. (Note: Shipt did allow me to try the service for this story, but I’m now signed up as a customer on my own, too.)

That evening, I had time to exercise, cook dinner and watch some TV in the time I would have been spending driving to the store, shopping, waiting in line, coming home and then unloading my car.

So, what is it?

TL;DR version:

• Download the app.
• Choose your membership plan:
• $14/month
• $99/year
• Free delivery on orders over $35
• Enter your location, select your groceries, choose your delivery options and checkout.
• A trained shopper shops your order.
• Wait for your grocery delivery in the hour timeframe you choose.
• Try it: use promo code CHARLOTTEAGENDA to get $10 in free groceries on your first order.

The full experience:

• After signing into the app and programming your location, you select groceries by categories, sale items, past purchases or by suggested items, like Dinner Tonight or Summer Produce.
• Anything at Publix, except alcohol and cigarettes, is available to you. You name it, it’s an option.
• Adding items to your cart is literally a click away and food descriptions are extremely clear. Finding food within categories is a simple and quick search function.
• Once you are finished shopping and have submitted any other special requests, you select which one-hour window you’d like your groceries delivered in.
• You can also choose if you’d like your personal shopper to contact you (text/call) if they have questions while shopping. I chose to be contacted if my shopper had any questions and she meticulously asked if anything I requested wasn’t available.
• I chose the 9-10 p.m. window and received my groceries at 10:08 p.m. To me, this was the most spectacular aspect considering it was late at night, the store was restocking as she shopped and I ordered 34 items, including deli items, beauty products and cleaning supplies.

The picture version:

So, will I continue to use the service?

Absolutely. Like I said, I had time to work out, cook that night’s dinner and relax after investing 15 minutes to pick my groceries and press “Order.” My shopper was fantastic, as you can see from her nice text, and I received everything in perfect condition and on time.

I’m officially Shipt’s #1 fan, but I will recognize that there are some drawbacks:

• No booze or cigarettes.
• No coupons, but you can shop by sale items.

• Publix is the only grocery store option in Charlotte. However, the company does hope to add additional stores in the near future.
• Harris Teeter or Trader Joe’s would include options for lower prices and variety, but still provide high quality products.

Take these issues as you will, but personally the service I received outweighed any negatives. The convenience was well worth it.

About Shipt

The company isn’t just in Charlotte. They’re expanding rapidly throughout the country. In the Carolinas alone, the service is available in Charlotte, the Triangle area, Greenville and Columbia.

They’re expanding for a reason. People love the service. Check the customer reviews from Apple’s App Store below:

Ready to try it out? Use promo code CHARLOTTEAGENDA to get $10 in free groceries on your first order and download Shipt here.