7 Ways to Get Paid to Deliver Groceries

If you’re like millions of other people who are looking for ways to make money, there are plenty of options. While there are lots of side hustle ideas and ways to earn cash outside of a traditional job, many of them require specific skills or experience.

However, there are some options that just about anyone can pursue with no experience required. And while there are a number of work-from-home jobs available, there are also other options that involve doing work outside of the home in your local area.

One of the best options is to get paid to deliver groceries. Grocery shopping and delivery services have been increasing in popularity for the past few years, and with even more people preferring to stay home due to the spread of COVID-19, these services have seen a huge boost in demand.

The increased demand for grocery delivery services means more opportunities for people like you who are willing to do the work. You don’t need any specific skills. All you need is a car or vehicle to make the deliveries and a willingness to work.

As a delivery driver, you can set your own hours and work around your existing schedule. If you have a traditional Monday through Friday job, delivering groceries can be one of the best weekend jobs. Or you can work whenever it is convenient for you.

Unlike some other side hustles, working as a delivery driver allows you to start making money immediately. You simply need to apply, pass a background check, and you can start working and earning money around your existing schedule. You could decide to pursue this opportunity today and begin making money later this week.

Let’s take a look at some of the best delivery apps and companies that are hiring grocery delivery drivers.

Ways to Make Money Delivering Groceries

1. Instacart

Instacart is a modern shopping app that allows customers to shop from home through the app. Customers can choose to pick up their order or have it delivered by an Instacart Shopper. Instacart is exclusive to only a select few, yet trusted and well-known, retail stores. They specialize in partnering with some of the top retailers found locally almost anywhere in the US such as:

• Costco
• Sprouts
• Natural Grocers
• CVS Pharmacy
• Sam’s Club
• Petco
• Smith’s
• Lucky
• Target

As a shopper for Instacart, you’ll receive those orders, shop at the respective stores for the order, and deliver the goods to the customer’s address. You can choose how often you work, what times of day you work, and even what orders you wish to accept.

When you accept an order, you receive a list of groceries from that order so you can check them off as you shop. You get paid once the order is complete and delivered and can earn extra money from tips as well. Doing extra tasks to go above and beyond for the customer order can pay off from earned tips.

Occasionally, Instacart will have promotions for shoppers such as earning an extra $3 on all orders up until 5:00 pm (for example) for orders done in certain geographical areas, like San Francisco.

How much can you make with Instacart?

According to Glassdoor.com, Instacart shoppers can earn up to $20 per hour, with the average hourly rate being $13 per hour.

→ Learn more about delivering with Instacart.

2. Shipt

“We bring the store to your door.” Shipt is another grocery shopping app that allows its customers to order groceries through their app and have it delivered to their house. They are a membership-based shopping app that focuses on delivering fresh foods and regular household essentials. Their membership structure allows them to pay a decent rate to their shoppers because their customers pay a price to become members.

Shipt takes a bit of extra time to carefully vet all their shoppers to ensure they know what they’re doing. For example, they ensure their shoppers are “produce perfectionists that keep an eye on your preferences.”

Shoppers looking to make extra money can begin by applying on their website to become a shopper. You can choose your own hours, work part-time, full-time, or any schedule that fits your needs.

They also have a shopper community to get additional tips, attend launch parties, and get a free Shipt membership.

Once you’ve applied to become a shopper, you’ll get an interview with a member of their team and have a real shot at becoming a Shipt shopper working your own hours. Once approved, you can download the app and begin accepting orders as they come in.

How much do shoppers for Shipt make?

Shipt claims that shoppers can make anywhere from $16 per hour and up to $22 per hour. You get paid per shop and get extra money from tips, and you keep 100% of the tips. Shipt also encourages its members to pay tips so you can expect tips to be a regular deal.

→ Learn more about delivering with Shipt here.

3. DoorDash

DoorDash is a popular food delivery app that allows customers to shop at local restaurants from the DoorDash app, order their entrees, and have it delivered to their door. DoorDash charges a small fee for customers who order a delivery order from the app. They also have monthly paying memberships for regular customers which allows them to pay their “Dashers” (shoppers) a competitive wage.

DoorDash has available delivery jobs in over 7,000 cities in the US, Canada, and Australia.

To become a “Dasher”, you simply need to sign up on DoorDash website and fill out the required information. You’ll be able to start earning extra money from local restaurant delivery orders very soon (after a background check).

How much money can you make with DoorDash?

Your payment is determined by a base pay (which considers the time, distance, and desirability of each order) plus promotions (including “peak pay” and additional challenges) and tips (which you keep 100% of).

→ Learn more about delivering with DoorDash.

4. TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit is a much broader version of the above-listed apps that are more focused on delivery for food and groceries. TaskRabbit, on the other hand, allows its users to post jobs for common everyday tasks including food and grocery delivery. Jobs posted on TaskRabbit are anything from delivery, shopping, help moving, assembling furniture, mounting equipment, and even cleaning.

TaskRabbit calls its entrepreneurs “Taskers.” Each job on TaskRabbit has a stated description for Taskers to read over and understand the project in its entirety, as well as a stated price for completing that job. You can search through all the jobs available on the platform and even filter down the jobs that are within the type of work you wish to do, the rates that you wish to be paid and the schedule that fits your timeframe.

You can build your reputation with TaskRabbit by getting positive reviews from each order you complete. The more reviews you get that are positive, and the more tasks that you complete, the more confidence that future buyers will have in working with you.

How much money can you make with TaskRabbit?

This is completely dependent on the type of job you’re doing. Projects like assembling a desk pay an average of $45 – $101 per project, whereas projects like delivering groceries can pay an average of $20 – $25 per project. The great thing is you can complete a variety of different tasks at different rates and get paid an overall higher hourly pay on average than most average full-time jobs!

→ Learn more about working with TaskRabbit.

5. Postmates

Postmates is a unique delivery app whose mission is to “…enable anyone to have anything delivered on-demand.” Rather than just having access to get food and groceries delivered to your door, why can’t people have anything and everything delivered to them, including food and groceries? That’s why Postmates was created!

Their app also allows its customers to pay a monthly membership fee to have unlimited free deliveries each month. This also allows them to have added paying benefits to their drivers, seeing they have a steady stream of income from their paying customers.

With partnerships with more than 600,000 merchants serving 80% of US households across all 50 states, Postmates provides a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to earn extra money delivering food, goods, groceries, and supplies to local families and businesses.

Once you sign up to be a Postmate deliverer (just called a Postmate), you can start seeing requested orders to accept. The app shows you your current balance available to cash out and how it is all calculated.

Every member of the Postmate Fleet gets access to their “Flexible Toolkit” which contains information on how to manage your side hustle or flexible job income. This includes things such as resources for health insurance, tax filing resources, and even a “career launchpad” to help you find your dream job while you work as a flexible driver with Postmates.

How much money can you make as a Postmate?

Postmates advertises being able to make up to $27 per hour. Their website also states they guarantee to make at least $700 in San Francisco for your first 100 completed orders, giving you an idea of the average earnings per order.

→ Learn more about delivering with Postmates.

6. Burpy

Burpy is a grocery shopping delivery service “from the local stores to your door in one hour.” They guarantee same-day delivery for their orders. Some of the popular stores that Burpy partners with are:

• Walmart
• Kroger
• Whole Foods
• Costco
• Target
• Sprouts
• Petco
• Albertsons
• Central Market Grocery

How does it work? To become a shopper with Burpy, you need to sign up by filling out an application on their website. Then you will need to complete a background check, pass their quick training course, schedule your face-to-face interview, and then start shopping and delivering orders. They often look for drivers who have good customer support skills and a clean driving record, with an ambition to make extra money.

Once you’ve been approved, you will begin receiving orders that are sent to your smartphone. You go shopping for the items in each order and deliver them to the customer.

Like most of the modern shopping and delivery apps mentioned here, with Burpy you can choose your own hours, select the orders you wish to accept, and work as often as you want.

How much can you make with Burpy?

Burpy pays similarly to other delivery apps, which is about $7 – $10 per delivery, or about $25 per hour.

→ Learn more about working with Burpy.

7. Deliv

Businesses often have orders from local customers that take days to be delivered, even though the delivery is only a few blocks away! Deliv aims to solve this problem in helping businesses ship their products to local customers nearby on the same day.

They serve about 35 markets and growing, allowing small businesses and even large enterprise businesses to deliver packages the same day to close locations. They promote themselves as the solution to solving the “last mile e-commerce problem.”

Deliv provides its services mainly for small business retail stores, local grocery stores, prescription deliveries and online retailers. Their current retail partners include Best Buy, Bloomingdales, Google Express, Macy’s, Office Depot, PetSmart, Walgreens and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Many delivery service jobs require that you have your own insurance policy in the event of damaged goods or theft. Deliv provides you with the needed insurance in case something happens during your deliveries.

The benefits of signing up to be a driver for Deliv are being able to work on your own schedule. You can book your hours a week in advance or even sign up for new deliveries last minute. They even provide you with an immediate support team for if you have delivery issues you can reach out to for quick assistance.

How does driving for Deliv work? When you’re ready to start delivering packages, you simply log in to the app and start completing tasks. You get paid for each delivery and payouts are given every week.

How much can you make with Deliv?

Deliv pays up to $22 per hour delivering packages. 

→ Learn more about working with Deliv.

As you can see, there are a number of legit options if you’re interested in getting paid to deliver groceries. It can be an excellent side hustle or part-time job that allows you to set your own schedule.