Instacart is a convenient, third-party vendor that provides home grocery delivery to its customers.
The company runs a tight ship to ensure customers receive high-quality groceries with the quickest delivery and that shoppers adhere to all policies.
As a customer, you need access to your receipts after each order.
Typically, you’ll receive an email after your delivery is complete with an itemized receipt.
Or, you can access it on your computer or from the app.
We’ll dive into the methodologies and policies of the company, and where you can find your Instacart receipt.
Table Of Contents
- What Is Instacart’s Receipt Policy?
- Do You Give the Instacart Customer the Receipt?
- Why Does Instacart Not Provide Store Receipts?
- Is the Instacart Receipt Different From the Store Receipt?
- Where Do You Find Your Receipt on Instacart?
- Do Instacart Shoppers Need To Keep Receipts?
- What To Do With Instacart Receipts
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Wrapping Up
What Is Instacart’s Receipt Policy?
Instacart has strict policies in place to ensure a smooth shopping and delivery experience for each contractor and customer.
For that reason, you’ll never receive a physical receipt.
Shoppers must keep physical receipts from each order.
And if a shopper does provide you with the store receipt, their shopper account is at risk of deactivation.
Instacart provides customers with a digital receipt after their delivery is complete.
You’ll receive an email copy or you can view the receipt in your mobile app or on a computer.
Do You Give the Instacart Customer the Receipt?
As a shopper, once you finish shopping and checking out an order, you’re prompted to take a photo of the receipt in the app.
After that, you can keep or discard the receipt, but under no circumstances are you allowed to provide the physical receipt to the customer.
Instacart has to make a profit, so they mark up item prices in their app.
Customers typically pay more for items through Instacart than they would if they went to the store themselves.
This is especially true for any discounted item in-store nearing the expiration date or if there’s a sale.
Why Does Instacart Not Provide Store Receipts?
Instacart is a third-party service that provides grocery delivery to its customers, so it doesn’t profit directly from the products.
There has to be a way for Instacart to make money, so the company upcharges customers for the groceries they purchase.
For that reason, Instacart doesn’t allow shoppers to provide store receipts to the customers.
If they see how much they’re being charged for items versus what the prices are at the store (especially when there are discounts for nearly-expired items or sales), customers may become irate and possibly stop using the service.
Don’t See the Markups
As a third-party vendor, Instacart makes its profit from the upcharges passed onto the customers.
After an order is complete, Instacart customers will receive a digital receipt via email or in the app detailing their items, costs, total, etc.
Shoppers are not to provide the customer with a physical receipt, or else customers can see where they’re being charged more.
This could potentially drive customers away from the service.
Don’t See the Lack of Sales
Instacart customers aren’t eligible for in-store sales since Instacart dictates its prices separately.
If customers receive the physical receipts, they can see how much they were charged from Instacart versus what it would cost if they shopped for themselves.
Instacart does offer customers coupons and promotions like buy one get one and stock up and save.
Is the Instacart Receipt Different From the Store Receipt?
You already know that you won’t be receiving a physical receipt with your order.
But is the digital copy you receive the same as the one from the store?
No, it’s not.
Instacart protects its bottom line by providing a digital receipt to customers once the order is delivered.
If you can see the actual store receipt, you’ll see how much you’re being charged per grocery item and may decide to forego the convenience service and start doing your shopping.
Where Do You Find Your Receipt on Instacart?
There are a couple of ways to obtain your Instacart receipt; you can find it in your app, or wait for the copy to be emailed to you once you receive your groceries.
Orders Tab in the App
To locate your receipt in the Instacart app, follow these steps.
- Open the app and log in.
- On the dashboard, click View account at the top left.
- Tap on Your orders.
- From there, browse through your orders and select the one from which you need the receipt.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap View receipt.
How To Find an Instacart Receipt
In addition to locating your receipt in the Instacart app, you should receive an emailed copy once your delivery is complete.
Make sure to check your spam folder if you don’t see the email.
Do Instacart Shoppers Need To Keep Receipts?
In the app, you’ll be reminded to keep the physical receipt after you check out an order so it doesn’t go to the customer and in case of a return.
Beyond that, though, it’s not necessary to hang onto the receipt.
For peace of mind, you can keep the receipt handy until you finish working for the day in case something comes up.
What To Do With Instacart Receipts
So, if it’s not necessary to keep the receipts, what do you do with them?
Take a Picture
First, you need to ensure you take a picture of the receipt after you check out an order and submit it in the app.
Instacart uses this to cross-reference with charges on your shopper card.
Throw Them Away
As long as you upload a photo of the physical receipt to the shopper app, you decide what to do with it.
You can recycle or toss it out at your discretion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Since you don’t receive a physical receipt from your Instacart orders, you may be wondering if you can still earn rewards from your purchases.
Can you scan Instacart receipts on Fetch?
Yes, you can scan Instacart receipts on Fetch.
Luckily, Instacart is on the list of approved eReciept Retailers that Fetch supports.
The process is a little different from uploading physical receipts, though, as you’ll need to link your account and allow Fetch to scan for digital receipts.
Can you add Instacart receipts to Ibotta?
Unfortunately, Ibotta has disabled the ability to add digital Instacart receipts.
Wrapping Up
Instacart runs a tight ship to ensure customers and shoppers are happy and it’s profitable.
Policies regarding receipts are in place so that customers aren’t discovering the price discrepancies or becoming angry once they find out how much they’ve been charged.
This ensures Instacart retains its customer base while ensuring shoppers are using the shopper card appropriately.
But, rest assured that you’ll still receive your Instacart receipt digitally.
