Imagine a situation where you’re in a rush to get groceries as early as 6:00am, but there’s no retail store near you that’s open by that time.
While you may opt for shopping for groceries much later, there are times when you just have to get your groceries as early as possible.
The good news is that Instacart is there for you.
Instacart is one of the foremost platforms for shopping for groceries online, and it boasts of a highly efficient delivery service.
Instacart has a vast network of retail stores that offer special discounts and sales of virtually any grocery you want.
All you need to do is to log on to the Instacart app or website and shop for your groceries.
What’s more? Instacart has no specific time when it opens, and this means that you’re pretty much covered any time and any day.
What Are Instacart’s Business Hours?
Instacart has a typical business schedule that runs from 9:00am till 10:00pm. But that’s not all. As an online platform for shopping groceries, Instacart has no defined business hours but relies on its retail partners to determine its business hours.
This means that you can shop on Instacart at any time of the day so long as there’s a retail store on Instacart running at that specific time. Generally this is between 9:00am to 10:00pm. But there have been new developments.
As of September 2021, Instacart announced that it would begin 24/7 delivery service.
This basically meant that Instacart business hours would run round the clock. As such, customers are free to place orders at any time of the day and have it delivered as soon as possible.
Although Instacart runs 24/7, it’s only possible with a number of retail partners who actively run 24/7 service as well. Basically, Instacart is a platform that relies on its network of retail partners to operate.
As such, if the retail stores on Instacart operate 24/7, then you can easily buy from them any time at any day.
Summarily, even though Instacart is open 24/7, you can only enjoy the 24/7 service by placing orders with available retail stores on Instacart who also run 24/7 services.
Back when Instacart started its 24/7 delivery service, retail stores such as 7-Eleven, CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Safeway were the first set of stores available. The list has been improved over the years, and there are a lot more stores on Instacart with 24/7 business hours.
In all, Instacart’s business hours are dependent on the business hours of the retail stores active on Instacart. What’s more is that Instacart business hours vary based on retail store opening hours and regions.
Some retail stores open as early as 7:00am, while some wait till 9:00am, and others who run 24/7 open by 12:00am. The great news is that you can shop on Instacart any time on any day.
Can You Schedule An Instacart Order?
Let’s say you’re in a region where there are no retail stores running 24/7 service, and you’re unwilling to shop from the available stores on Instacart, it’s still possible to shop early.
By scheduling your Instacart order, you can shop as early as 6:00am and have it scheduled for delivery at the earliest time possible.
So if you can’t place an order early with nearby retail stores on Instacart, you can also schedule your Instacart order, and it’ll be attended to immediately when the retail store opens.
In April 2020, Instacart introduced its “Fast & Flexible”, and “Order Ahead” services. Instacart’s Fast & Flexible delivery feature gives customers a wider delivery window such that orders are matched quickly with available Instacart shoppers for immediate attention.
As such, orders are quickly handled and delivered with ease. On the other hand, the Order Ahead service will also allow you to schedule your order.
With the Instacart Order Ahead feature, you can buy all the groceries you need ahead of time such that it’ll be delivered at a set date when you’ll most likely need to shop for groceries afresh.
Thanks to the Order Ahead feature, you can set up a delivery window of up to seven days, and that would pretty much cover all your groceries on time.
This is a better alternative to waiting for Instacart retail stores to open on time before you can place orders.
Read: What Time Does Instacart Close?
What Time Does Instacart Customer Service Open?
One of the worst nightmares of app users is that an app is unresponsive. Even worse is that the customer support is unavailable.
Generally, technical difficulties often rise and ruin shopping experiences on the app, and when such happen the best thing would be to reach out to the customer service – hopefully you won’t be replied by a bot.
The great news is that Instacart customer service is open 24/7.
From inception, Instacart has actively sought out ways of optimizing its platform to ensure that users get the best experience.
One of such optimizations is Instacart’s customer service being open 24/7. As such, you can reach out to Instacart customer service any time and any day, and you’ll be attended to quickly.
Now, you can reach out to Instacart customer service via direct phone calls, emails and also the live chat feature on the app.
Here’s the catch: Instacart has a list of support queries that can help you resolve difficulties quickly without any direct help from Instacart customer service.
All you need to do is to scroll through the list of support queries and pick the one that best reflects your challenge.
Follow the recommendations and your challenge would be resolved with ease.
Instacart customer service is also open to 24/7 appointments.
Basically, you can schedule an appointment with Instacart customer service any time and any day.
Scheduling a support appointment is a great way to receive priority response from Instacart customer service.
You can choose a convenient time for yourself, and schedule the call instead of waiting too long on the call line.
Read: Why Does Instacart Charge More Than Total?
How Early Can You Receive Orders On Instacart As A Shopper?
Being an Instacart shopper is a great way to earn on the side. The average earning on Instacart as a shopper is $20 per hour, and if you’re fast and efficient, you could earn a lot more.
Here’s the catch; a lot of Instacart shoppers tend to try shopping early so they can grab shopping orders ahead of others. This begs the question of how early can you receive orders on Instacart as a shopper?
Shopping early is one of many strategies for earning more money as an Instacart shopper. It easily sets you at an advantage over other shoppers who may wish to take orders later.
The good news is that you can shop at any time and any day thanks to Instacart being operational 24/7.
Although the general opening hour for Instacart orders is 7:00am or 9:00am, you can still receive orders as early as 2:00am if you’re up for it.
Generally, Instacart’s business hours are determined by its retail partners. This means that orders are open for claim by Instacart shoppers based on the opening hours of retail stores on Instacart.
As such, there’s no clear timeframe for when you can receive orders on Instacart as a shopper.
Want to learn more about Instacart? Check out our related posts to learn if Instacart delivers cigarettes, does Instacart deliver alcohol, and can you work for Shipt and Instacart?
Conclusion…
Instacart generally opens around 9:00am. This is primarily due to the majority of its retail partners opening by 9:00am.
However, Instacart runs a 24/7 delivery service, which means that it’s open round the clock.
You can shop for groceries on Instacart as early as 2:00am and have it delivered to you on time, or you can schedule a delivery date.
Be that as it may, if you wish to shop at any time on Instacart, you have to shop strictly with the available retail stores who also run 24/7 service.
Stores like 7-Eleven run a 24/7 service and are available on Instacart. You can either shop from them, or wait for the opening hour of your preferred retail store.