Santa Rosa side hustle idea: deliver groceries

MILTON — Joel Matthews, a radio technician with the United States Marine Corps Reserves, has been a part-time Publix grocery clerk for six months. Now, the smartphone app Instacart may help him supplement his income.

Instacart, a same-day grocery delivery business, began in 2012 in San Francisco. Publix began implementing the service on July 6, 2016, starting in Miami and expanding last year into Santa Rosa County.

In the 32570 zipcode, app users currently can shop from Publix and CVS Pharmacy, according to instacart.com.

That also means work opportunities for residents like Matthews.  

"Publix Delivery powered by Instacart is a grocery delivery service that allows customers to order Publix groceries online and have them delivered when and where they want," a Publix.com FAQ section states.

Matthews learned about the app from Instacart shoppers he’s seen in the store wearing Instacart lanyards.

"I’ve helped them find stuff," he said. "I got to looking into it and figured it would be a neat way to make extra money."

Matthews is still waiting for his lanyard; in the meantime, he's seen anywhere from two to 10 Instacart shoppers at Publix in a day.

"Really you just decide when you want to work," he said. "You go on the app and clock in and wait for an order. When it comes in, you go get everything on the list, scan and deliver (the order) to (the customer)."

While the Instacart app says an employee can work any number of hours, it requires being clocked in at least three consecutive hours to receive orders.

Employees can earn money at least five ways, according to the Instacart application:

• Earnings for orders completed
• Earnings for each item purchased while shopping 
• Bonuses for excellent customer ratings 
• Extra bumps for large orders, long delivery distances and specific retailers
• Hourly guarantees depending on zone 

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Santa Rosa side hustle idea: deliver groceries