Check the video to follow along on my recent shopping order - plus, find out what some of my best tips are for shopping Wegmans through Instacart.
When I grocery shop it looks like an episode of "Supermarket Shop". I'm scrambling through the store as fast as possible in the little pocket of time I've found with at least one of my kids with me, a list of everything I need and am crossing my finger I can get everything off my list before I'm out of time. It's FAR from relaxing or fun, in fact, I can think of dozens of other things I'd rather do than grocery shop, with or without kids. I just don't like spending my time on this chore and wish there was a magic solution to getting healthy food in my house at a reasonable price and keeping my sanity.
The solution is out there, it's shopping Wegmans through Istacart! When Macaroni Kid asked a few weeks back if I'd be interested in placing an order through Instacart for Wegmans and then reviewing it, I jumped all over it. I love anything that saves me time and takes things off my to-do list that I really don't like doing. Before we could even have our team conference call on how to use this service, I went ahead and made my account and started playing around on Instacart and was in love with how easy it all seemed.
As life would have it, we were hosting Thanksgiving this year so I needed to pick up a pretty decent sized haul from the store and had planned to do it in a very specific time slot that was open, but that all changed when a doctor appointment was rescheduled to that week, my toddler started potty training and simultaneously dropped her only nap, and the chaos of life took over. I was stressing out about finding time to get all this shopping done during times when I was hoping it wouldn't be busy at the store and when I wouldn't have to take all three kids when I decided to throw caution to the wind and order my Thanksgiving stuff through Wegmans before we could to the training or have our team chat.
The turkey, mashed potatoes and dessert were already taken care of, but I ordered everything else from the kitchen twine (who knew you needed to tie up a turkey to cook it properly?!) to fresh herbs, already chopped up celery, sweet potatoes, onion & pepper and everything else to complete my Thanksgiving meal. I was nervous to put so much trust into a total stranger for such an important occasion, but my personal shopper came through with flying colors. I love that not only did I save the time I would've spent shopping my own order, but I saved time during my Thanksgiving prep by having already washed & prepped veggies brought right to my front door.
A few of the items I wanted weren't in stock at the store, but it was quickly remedied through text with my shopper, she sent me the item she planned to substitute and was able to get my approval in real time. I love the ease of communication between my personal shopper and myself. Instacart alerted me when shopping started, any substitutions needed, when it was concluded and when she was on her way. I never felt out of the loop and felt like I was always in control of my shopping. When my shopper came, she mentioned that one of her personal favorite things about Instacart shopping at Wegmans is creating a cart online and sending a link to her spouse and daughter, allowing them to add things they may need as well. Whoever creates the cart has total control over the final cart before submission, so your kids can't sneak in bags & bags of candy without your approval.
Last week I ordered through Instacart and again enjoyed it. It was great to be able to get some holiday items knocked off my list while my personal shopper grabbed things for dinner, teacher gifts and the next few days of meals & school lunches. That order was to my house in just under two hours, which is pretty incredible. With this order, I went through the coupon section on Instacart a bit more thoroughly than my previous order and was thrilled to see not only a lot of coupons offered, but a lot of the coupons were on items I love and would buy regularly. On my last order, I ordered a bunch of produce, and really loved the ability to leave instructions on each item for my shopper. Your able to let them know things like how ripe you want your avacado, if you want green/yellow/browning bananas, if you don't want to substitute a specific item and anything else they should know to make your order 100% as you'd like it.
I could see myself ordering my groceries through Wegmans again in the future, especially during those times my to-do list is insane, the kids are sick and I don't want to infect the entire store just to pick up some ginger ale, popsicles and soup supplies and just to free up some of my time to do things I actually enjoy doing and that makes me happy. A huge thank you goes to Wegmans for this experience, all thoughts and opinions are my own. I was compensated for one of my shopping trips through our partnership.
For a limited time, first time Instacart shoppers can use promo code MACARONI KID to save $10 off a $35+ order. Valid for first-time shoppers only.
