Sprouts Farmers Market Beefs Up Instacart Pickup Offering

Sprouts Farmers Market is the latest grocer to boost curbside pickup services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new Sprouts effort will enable grocery shoppers using Instacart to select grocery pickup from all of the 340 store locations that Sprouts operates in the U.S.

This new option will first roll out at Sprouts stores in Los Angeles and in the Central Valley of California, including Fresno. Sprouts has yet to offer additional details about other rollouts. Prior to this, Sprouts had offered grocery pickup via Instacart orders at 55 stores, though grocery delivery via that online ordering service was available in all the major markets that Sprouts served.

Using this new service, Sprouts customers can schedule grocery pickups via Instacart for the same day or for another time several days in advance, the grocer said. Sprouts will send an alert to customers when orders are ready for pickup, and when that customer arrives for those items and checks in, a Sprouts employee will bring the order to the designated pickup spot in the parking lot.

The pandemic and its resulting physical distancing requirements are boosting use of grocery pickup and delivery so much that some customers are reporting difficulties securing slots for those services. Even so, various grocery retail operators are not only working to expand pickup and delivery services but are also crafting programs appealing to specific consumer groups that prior to the pandemic had not always been able to take part in such efforts.

Earlier this week Walmart said it has made it easier for people who use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to buy food via the retailer’s grocery pickup service during the pandemic. Consumers select the EBT option during pickup but are still required to present their EBT cards during grocery pickup to a Walmart associate for swiping. If any items in the order do not quality for SNAP, the consumer is required to present an alternative form of payment to cover the difference.

You can bet on further expansion of grocery pickup and delivery service as this pandemic continues – an expansion that is certain to help set the stage for lasting changes in the food retail industry once social distancing eases up.

Phoenix-based Sprouts employs more than 30,000 associates and operates 340 stores in 23 states. The company is No. 22 on Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.