With so many people locked up in their homes due to COVID-19 mandates, online grocery shopping saw a huge spike in demand since early 2020. The boom has created a lot of opportunities for gig workers. Last spring I added grocery delivery to my gig stack. I experimented with Instacart and Shipt in 2020. Grocery delivery definitely has its challenges but, it pays better than rideshare and food delivery. Especially in the tips department. Are you an Instacart driver looking to earn more money with your gigs? Well, here are a few tips that you can use.

Related Topics:

• The 5 Best Grocery Delivery Apps For Gig Workers
• Case Study: Food Delivery Or Grocery Delivery? Which Gig Pays More During COVID-19?

Take Action

Time slots having too many shoppers on shift can become closed for subsequent entries. Be prudent enough to claim them before they become unavailable. Set recurring alerts on your smartphone to avoid missing your opportunity during these busy hours. 

Choose Your Instacart Gigs With Prudence

Many factors determine your earnings from Instacart gigs. Picking orders wisely is just one of them. Strictly refrain from large wholesale store orders or orders from big businesses. Not only are such a list is hard to shop for but also hard to accommodate with your vehicle. 

Similarly, accepting large double or triple batches all at once is not advisable. Such orders aren’t easy to carry and deliver. Another thing to do while picking orders is to pick orders from aisles you know well. It will reduce your time spent searching. As a result, you’ll be able to shop faster and complete more orders.

Save Money On Fuel

Use a fuel-efficient car while heading to stores and delivering orders, if possible. It will help you cut down your expenses on fuel. It will amplify your revenue as money saved is money earned. Fuel efficiency can also pay off later when you need to file a tax return and need lots of mileage deductions. 

Be Punctual

Do on-time deliveries. On-time deliveries will fetch you a good impression and better tips. First, make sure you are never late while doing your deliveries. Be prompt and swift but safe enough in order to make on-time deliveries without hurting yourself or anyone else.  Another key to finish deliveries quickly is to avoid driving far from your place of residence. It will reduce your driving time and allow you to do more batches. 

Know Where to Park

Picking the right parking spot is crucial to doing on-time deliveries. And the key to this is simple. Avoid parking in a tow zone. Grab a parking spot near the entrance or a cart corral. That way you can leave the store quickly after you have finished shopping!

Research Instacart Retailers in Your Area

To become a fast shopper, you need to know the stores well. Check out the stores in your location and create a mental note of its aisles. Knowing the stores well will prevent you from doubling back to the same sections. Next, scroll through the entire order list and decide which store sections to visit. A careful pre-plan will boost your picking speed so that you can do more orders. You will easily find most of the items in your list in the store aisles. For unavailable items, do not hesitate to use the replacement suggestions of Instacart. Quickly pick one of the replacements and move on to other items on the list.

Be Attentive and Thoughtful

Follow customer instructions precisely. Give attention to the smallest of details provided by the customer in their orders. It would create a good impression on them and fetch you some tips. Be courteous, make eye contact, and smile at your customer to appear more friendly. For example, strike a quick conversation to make them more comfortable. You could also help them to carry their orders inside or upstairs, too. These simple tricks would enhance the impression you leave on your customer and amplify your chances of getting tips.

Use Gridwise for Efficiency

With the help of the Gridwise application, you can increase your earnings up to 39%. You can control your fuel expenditure with Gridwise’s automatic mileage tracking feature. At the same time, you can compare your revenue across various platforms and plan your shifts accordingly. It is a must-have toolkit to add to one’s arsenal.

Beware of Tip-Baiting on Instacart

Another thing to pay attention to is tip-baiting. To clarify, some customers will occasionally offer lucrative tips as baits for you to accept the order and remove the same once you complete the delivery. For this reason, avoid offers with too good to be true tips.