The 5 Best Online Grocery Delivery Services in 2024

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If you have found that your grocery budget has grown over the past few months, you're not alone. We've been collectively surprised at some of the food the prices we're seeing on the shelves, with most of the hardest hit being household staples like dairy, meat and eggs — according to data from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)the price of a dozen Grade A eggs has risen 60% in the past year, costing an average of $4.25 in December 2023.

While this may not affect every aspect of your food plate, inflation still keeps our fridges and cupboards in check, with grocery prices overall increase of 11.8% last December. That's why more and more people are turning to online grocery ordering as a way to save some dough (no pun intended) and get the convenience of fast delivery and similar options to what you'd find on the shelves of a brick-and-mortar supermarket. and mortars.

When it comes to the best places to order groceries online, you might wonder how much cheaper it would really be to buy household items from sites like Amazon. Are the prices really lower than what you would find in a store? Is it worth it to order groceries online and where can you get the most bang for your buck?

Just as meal delivery services have grown in recent years, providing an entire week's worth of meal options (sometimes fully prepared) with just a few clicks, top online grocery sites from Amazon Fresh to Instacart will ship you everything from produce and poultry, in cabinet staples and toilet paper. Here are our top picks to knock your weekly grocery shopping off your to-do list.

What are the best places to order groceries online?

The best online grocery services will have enough variety in stock that you won't have to grab your car keys and go out just for one missing ingredient. and deliver all haul on time. We've chosen these options based on personal testing considering variety, fair prices, ease of use, and on-time delivery.

We've tried to include grocery services that will allow you to choose same-day delivery options or choose the delivery window so you can order in the morning and put a fresh meal on the table that night. You also see house brands on some websites that keep prices on staples lower than in-store prices.

1. Amazon Fresh

It may not surprise you, but Amazon actually has the lowest prices on food and drink ordered online for delivery in the US and UK If you order through Amazon Fresh, your groceries are, on average, 7% lower than other online retailers according to e-commerce analytics platform Profitero. Take eggs, for example — in our own search we found the lowest price for a dozen eggs at the time of this article on Amazon Fresh to be $3.39, compared to $4.49 on Stop & Shop's website. Amazon owns Whole Foods, so you can order from its house brand, 365, and get quality food at lower-than-average prices.

In addition to having consistently lower prices, we love Amazon because there are many other ways to save beyond what you add to cart. With Amazon Subscribe & Save, you can save up to 15% more on the staples you buy most and set up automatic reorders at a frequency that works for you. You can also “clip” digital coupons on Amazon and get $10 off, depending on the price of the item (new coupons and deals are added weekly).

Fast delivery is also a huge plus as delivery of your groceries is as little as 5 hours with Amazon Same Day Delivery. Sign up for Amazon Prime and you can get super fast 2-hour delivery from Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market and other local/specialty stores. Overall, Amazon has the one-two punch of competitive pricing and convenience that can't be beat.

2. Instacart

If you know exactly what you need and know your favorite brands from your local grocery store, then there's no better option than Instacart's convenience delivery style. Instead of operating from warehouses like Amazon, this third-party service hires shoppers to head to your local Stop & Shop, Costco, or other supermarket and buy the groceries at the store, then deliver them to your home. With more stores to choose from, you have a much wider selection.

The advantage is that you have more control, since buyers can send photos of replacements if one of the products you requested is out of stock, and you can approve or reject it in real time. It's a major time saver, and you can track your grocery delivery through the Instacart mobile app so you're never caught off guard by the smallest delivery window. The downside is that you may sacrifice some cost for convenience — prices can be marked up to 14% higher than in-store. That said, you can get unlimited deliveries for just $10 a month, so it's still a win if you're on a budget.

3. Ship

Consignment is another great grocery delivery option if you're looking for the best deals and low prices on everything from grocery staples to household cleaning supplies. Similar to Instacart, you'll get your own personal shopper who will grab items from your grocery list at local supermarkets and wholesalers like Costco. Since Shipt is owned by Target, the service focuses primarily on discount retailers, so it's a great option if you're looking for chain-specific deals (including Target) and savings on bulk groceries.

In addition to finding a plethora of low prices, Shipt also wins when it comes to same-day delivery and can occasionally deliver faster than Amazon Fresh (we've seen as little as an hour). That is, for the record, without scheduling delivery days in advance. If you're terrible at time management (guilty as charged), this is the best way to get groceries in a hurry, although you won't have as wide a variety of local stores compared to Instacart. The one-time delivery fee is $10, but there's no minimum order, and you can even have non-grocery items delivered to your doorstep (we're talking pet food, vitamins from your drugstore, even light bulbs from the home improvement store).

4. Misfits Market

Don't beat your head against the wall on the price of organic produce — Misfits Market is the answer. Although they offer a smaller selection than most major grocery delivery services, they have incredibly competitive prices on organic fruit and vegetables, beating local supermarkets and other online delivery sites (the brand says you can save up to 40% off normal values ​​). While their prices are not always that low for every category, you can regularly find sales on sustainable brands and their meats and seafood, baked goods and dairy products are all high quality.

However, Misfits Market is a subscription service, so deliveries will be made at the same time each week (no panic buying here). Build your cart each week based on a combination of what you've ordered in the past and what products are in season (you can make swaps). Skip weeks, pause or cancel without penalty, although if you don't edit your cart, Misfits will send you a box of the same groceries you ordered last week.

If you're looking to lower your weekly grocery bill while still eating organic and don't mind the rigors of weekly deliveries, Misfits Market is the service for you.

5. Walmart+

If you are already a Walmart shopping household, you can reap much more benefits buy groceries online with a Walmart+ membership than without one. As an alternative to Amazon Prime, Instacart, and Shipt, you'll not only benefit from Walmart's consistently low prices on groceries and produce, but you can get other perks that make the deals even sweeter.

Not only can you get grocery delivery and free shipping +35 online orders with Walmart+which includes same day, next day, and two day shipping. No more fees upon fees when you panic to buy extra cups and plates for an impromptu house party or a missing meal. While it's still a subscription rather than a one-time delivery service (starting at $12.95/month), the brand says this plan can potentially save you 90+ hours and up to $1,300+ in a year.

Did we mention the savings beyond the grocery cart? An important perk helps you save on streaming with one Paramount+ Essential subscription included when you sign up for W+. You can also save at the gas pump with 10 cents off per gallon at more than 14,000 gas stations nationwide. That's not even touching on the rotating list of limited-time offers with your membership benefits (right now, just in time for tax season, you can get 25% tax help with TurboTax Live Assisted).

That said, while grocery delivery is included in a Walmart+ membershipnon-members can also place delivery orders for an additional fee, and non-members can also receive free curbside pickup orders using the Walmart+ app.

While you may save more in the long run with a Walmart+ membership instead of seeing instant deals on your grocery bill, the added benefits are enough to make up for the cost and then some.