Apple Pay Promo Offers Free Delivery From Instacart Through January 10

[MacRumors]

Apple has launched a new Apple Pay promotion running through Wednesday, January 10 and centering upon grocery delivery app Instacart. With the promo, you can get free delivery on Instacart orders of $35 or more when using Apple Pay to checkout, and no promo code is needed.

The fine print for the new offer notes that free delivery will be subject to availability in certain areas, and service fees and taxes still apply to your order. If your area supports the promotion, you can save $5.99 or more on an Instacart order, with delivery fees starting at that price point and increasing when factoring in the size and time of your order.

In the same email announcement, Apple also highlighted restaurants that support Apple Pay, like Panera Bread, Jamba Juice, and Whole Foods. Additionally, the company mentioned a few food planning and delivery apps that might help users maintain their healthy eating New Year's resolutions, like Thrive Market, Blue Apron, and Plated.

The Instacart email promotion follows previous Apple Pay offers launched over the past few months, including one for Fandango in December and another for Postmates in November.

Article Link: Apple Pay Promo Offers Free Delivery From Instacart Through January 10

 

[OriginalMacRat]

My introduction to Instacart was through Costco's "free delivery" of $35+ orders which as it turns out meaning the individual items were marked up 10-20% higher than in store cost to cover the cost of delivery.

 

[miniyou64]

What a generous and widely available promotion...

 

[tmiw]

What a generous and widely available promotion...

A full on rewards program like what Samsung does probably won't ever be in the cards for Apple Pay because of Apple's approach to privacy, among other reasons.

 

[Rigby]

The most interesting promotion for Apple Pay yet comes not from Apple but from Chase bank: You can currently earn 5% cashback on every Apple Pay transaction if you use their "Freedom" card. It also works with Android Pay, Samsung Pay, or Chase Pay. If Apple really wants to push Apple Pay they should be able to work out similar incentives with the banks.

 

[D.T.]

My introduction to Instacart was through Costco's "free delivery" of $35+ orders which as it turns out meaning the individual items were marked up 10-20% higher than in store cost to cover the cost of delivery.

Huh. Our experience using them with Publix has been outstanding: same price as the store, easily applied promos/coupons, good shopper feedback on more subjective items or substitutes, always falls into the projected delivery time. The only extra fee is the flat rate service plus the tip we leave.

 

[rmimac]

My introduction to Instacart was through Costco's "free delivery" of $35+ orders which as it turns out meaning the individual items were marked up 10-20% higher than in store cost to cover the cost of delivery.

I haven't used Instcart in a bit, but I know for a fact they previously indicated that Costco is %higher, probably due to not needing a subscription. Whole Foods I know is the same price.

 

[AlliFlowers]

I've been using InstaCart for the last 8 months(ish). when I signed up (no promo), I got the first year with no fee.

This promo is not worth an article. OTOH, InstaCart is well worth using.

 

[ecschwarz]

So, I didn't get this email, even though I get most others from Apple. What's the Panera deal that was mentioned? Unlike past Apple Pay promos, it seems that this also doesn't have a counterpart on Apple's web site...

 

[andycarver]

Apple Food.....
Apple Market.....
Apple Cart.....
I’m always interested in these little “partnerships”.
Why are they so chummy?
Testing the water?

 

[tennisproha]

How does one start getting these emails?

 

[ecschwarz]

Apple Food.....
Apple Market.....
Apple Cart.....
I’m always interested in these little “partnerships”.
Why are they so chummy?
Testing the water?

I think Apple is only trying to grow Apple Pay usage on some semi-popular businesses and services. They've done this before in certain geographic areas and are probably footing some of the promotional costs. Despite a lot of Apple Pay-capable devices out there, there's still a lot of people that haven't bothered setting it up.

On the other hand, some promotions like Discover's 10% cash back on Apple Pay for a few months (right after Discover was newly added to Apple Pay) back in 2015 and Chase offering 5% cash back on their Freedom Visa card this quarter seem like even the issuing banks want to increase usage a bit...Chase's is across all "digital wallets", so I don't think it's necessarily an Apple-specific initiative.

 

[jap1198]

Huh. Our experience using them with Publix has been outstanding: same price as the store, easily applied promos/coupons, good shopper feedback on more subjective items or substitutes, always falls into the projected delivery time. The only extra fee is the flat rate service plus the tip we leave.

A lot of people are unaware of this but you can always waive that service fee at checkout.