Amazon Versus Instacart: Why You Need to Switch

If you are an Amazon Prime member there is no reason to use Instacart.  You need to switch from Instacart to Amazon because ultimately, from a supply chain perspective, you will get higher rewards.  Even Shipt and Target’s cartwheel promotions can’t touch the vegan, non-GMO, gluten-free, and organic varieties that Publix, Kroger, and yes, Whole Foods offer.

Bold statements huh?

Do you also have an Amazon Prime VISA?  That’s a 5% return.  You’ll get additional discounts on some Whole Foods groceries.

But what’s Amazon Fresh?  It’s an additional paid service from Amazon that gets you access to a litany of groceries.  I’ll be honest though, I have no need of any additional and with my Amazon Prime membership (that I share, thank you Darby) I can get Whole Foods groceries in less than 2 hours.  Free.  I’ll be happy to tip my delivery agent in cash.

Here’s the catch:  you can watch Amazon’s trajectory with consuming Whole Foods and then slowly adding perks and incentives for people to order groceries.  Once a bulk of shoppers start using it more, Amazon Fresh won’t be that expensive and you’ll thank me for it.  Yer welcome.

I’ve already demonstrated to you several blogs posts ago how the markup on Shipt and Instacart Publix and Kroger groceries was 10-20% of the item price.  Amazon includes grocery delivery in your prime fee and also gives you certain discounts.  Are the groceries at Whole Foods more expensive?  Yes.  But they aren’t marked up just to be delivered!  Do you have to buy the most expensive things?  No.  Do organic products really matter?  Yes.

Kroger employees start (in Georgia) at about $7.50 per hour.  Publix about the same.  Target is now starting employees at $12.00 per hour and will rise to $15 in the next two years.  Finally, Amazon has already jumped to $15.00.  Do you want to support a community that pays its employees barely enough to survive?  Part-time employees only receive medical benefits at Target and Kroger if they’ve met some time threshold (six months to a year) and are almost working full-time hours (the opposite goal of a part-time job).  In Georgia even with a $500 subsidy to support Affordable Care, if you make less than $30k per year, your health care costs will be about $200 per month with a $6,800 deductible.

Gig-economy workers get their cut while Instacart and Shipt battle for supremacy.  No one raises hourly wages except for Target and Amazon.

It comes down to this:  Are you going to start shopping at Walmart for groceries to be an extreme saver?  If the answer is no, then Amazon Prime and free grocery delivery are the winning combinations.  Unfortunately for Walmart, no one associates streaming music and movies with the retail giant.  With all things considered, the fact that I can add HBO on top of my prime subscription or take my Amazon Fire Cube anywhere instead of paying a cable bill?  Yea.  A to Z.

Any questions?