Do Grocery Delivery Services Like Instacart Earn a Grocery Bonus?
This guide explains when grocery delivery earns the grocery bonus and when it does not.
Why grocery delivery is unpredictable
When you order through Instacart, Shipt, or a similar service, the charge may post as the grocery store you shopped, which earns the grocery bonus, or as the delivery platform, which typically codes as a service and earns only your base rate. Some services even let the store bill you directly for the items while the platform bills separately for fees, so a single order can split across categories.
Meal kits are different
Meal-kit services like HelloFresh or Blue Apron are not grocery stores; they bill as direct-to-consumer merchants, so they generally do not code as groceries and earn only the base rate. If a grocery bonus is why you are considering a meal kit, it will not deliver one, though a good flat-rate card still earns a solid rate.
How to earn the most
Because coding is inconsistent, check how a past delivery order posted on your card to learn its pattern, some apps reliably code as grocery, others as a service. Where it earns the grocery bonus, use your grocery card; where it does not, a flat-rate card avoids the base-rate penalty. This is the same coding uncertainty behind purchases that miss a bonus.
- Delivery can code as the store or as the service.
- Coding as the store earns the grocery bonus.
- Coding as the delivery platform earns only the base rate.
- It can vary by order and by app.
- Meal-kit services usually do not code as groceries.
Frequently asked questions
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