Food Bazaar FAQ

Order Support

Food Bazaar has partnered with Instacart to provide 24-7 customer support for all online orders. For any order or site support, please contact Instacart Support at 1-888-246-7822

How to place an order

You can either search for a specific item you’re looking for, or browse by department. We also make recommendations based on what you bought before.
Add items to your cart by tapping or clicking +Add or Add to Cart. You can also adjust the item quantity by using the + or - buttons.
You can check what’s in your cart anytime while you’re shopping by clicking or tapping the shopping basket button. You can see the next available delivery time, as well as the amount needed to reach any order minimums. You can also view your item total, adjust quantities, or remove items from your cart.
When you’re ready to check out, visit your cart and tap or click the Checkout button. You’ll be asked to add a delivery address and your payment information. Then, go ahead and place your order! Your groceries will be on their way in no time. Or you can place your delivery for up to 5 days from now.

Can’t find an item?

Not able to find an item you’re looking for in our inventory? Here are a couple things to try.

Use search

Use the search box on the website. Sometimes searching for one keyword (for example, searching for “watermelon” instead of “watermelon slices”) can help.

Tracking your order and delivery

It’s easy to track your order, from the moment your personal shopper starts finding your items until the moment it arrives at your door.

Order status

To check your order status on the website—

Click account
Click Order History
Click on an order to view its status

Tracking your order in progress

If you have text message notifications enabled, you’ll receive a message when your personal shopper begins working on your order.

Click Account > Order History
Click on Current order to see Shopped Items and to view items already found and changes like replacements and refunds.
You can Approve changes or choose Other options for each item.

Want to chat with your shopper? Click the Chat link at the top of the screen to let them know if you want to add items to your order or make other changes.

Tracking your delivery in progress

When it’s time for delivery, you’ll receive a text message that includes an estimated time of arrival.

Need to give your driver last-minute delivery instructions? Click Chat with shopper. (For safety reasons, drivers might not reply while they’re en route.)

Order changes

If your personal shopper hasn’t begun your order, you can update your order in the Order page. If your shopper has already started working on your order, you can chat with them for assistance.

Add a new item

To add an item to your order—

Go to Account → Order History
Click on current order, add to order
Search each item you want to add
Click + sign to add to cart
Follow prompts for confirmation

Change quantity or remove an item

To make changes to your current order——

Go to Account → Order History
Click on current order
In the item list, select the item you want to adjust the quantity on
On this item, click the number and adjust as you like

Approving order changes

You can select other options for replacements, or choose a refund for the item instead.

To see items your shopper has already located—

Click Account
Click Your orders
Select your current order
Click See Shopped Items
If you approve the change, click Approve
If you prefer another option, click Other options…
Don’t see the option you prefer? Just click Chat at the top of the screen to talk to your shopper.
When shopping is complete, you can click See Shopped items again to view all the completed changes and items in your order.

Problem with your order

Receive a delivery you’re not completely satisfied with? In most cases, we can make things right quickly.

On the website, you can let Instacart know about—

Missing items
Incorrect items
Damaged items
Poor replacements
Late orders

You’ll get an email confirmation right away for any credits or refunds, and Instacart will let you know as soon as any other issues are resolved. Refund and credit amounts vary.

It’s easy to track your order, from the moment your personal shopper starts finding your items until the moment it arrives at your door.

Order status

To check your order status on the website—

Click Your orders
Click on an order to view its status

Tracking your order in progress

If you have text message notifications enabled, you’ll receive a message when your personal shopper begins working on your order.

Click Account > Your orders.
Click See Shopped Items to view items already found and changes like replacements and refunds.
You can Approve changes or choose Other options for each item.

Tracking your delivery in progress

When it’s time for delivery, you’ll receive a text message. If you click the link in the text message, The delivery screen includes an estimated time of arrival and a map you can tap to follow the driver’s progress. You can also use that page to chat with the shopper if you need to provide last-minute delivery instructions. (For safety reasons, drivers might not reply while they’re en route.)

Receiving your delivery

After the items in your order have been picked and packed, a personal shopper starts the delivery process. In some cases, the person who shops your order may not be the one who delivers it.

To make sure you get your delivery as scheduled, we recommend—

Keeping an eye out for text messages and phone calls from the delivery driver
Leaving helpful instructions for parking, gate codes, or other clues to find your home.

Driver can’t find your location

If the delivery driver can’t find your location, they’ll try to get in touch with you via text message or phone call before taking further action. Unless you specifically request for them to do so, drivers are unable to leave an order unattended.

When a member can’t be found or contacted for an extended period of time, the order may be canceled.

Unavailable to receive delivery

In the case that you can’t be there to receive your delivery in person, we recommend first reaching out to a friend or neighbor to get it for you. Just let the driver know of the change by adding a note in the delivery instructions or sending them a message through the website.

Alternatively, you can check the box for Leave at My Door Delivery at checkout. You can leave additional instructions for your shopper and receive a photo confirmation once your groceries have been delivered.

Payment Issues

The only transaction needed to pay for your Instacart order and adjust the shopper's tip takes place in the Instacart app. External payments such as cash, checks, or third-party apps (Venmo, Zelle, etc.) are not necessary.

If you or your shopper experience issues paying for your order, please reach out for help through your Instacart app. All payments take place within the app, and you're not required to reimburse your shopper for any reason.

Tipping

Instacart encourages tipping as a way to show your shoppers appreciation and recognition for excellent service. 100% of your tip goes directly to the shopper delivering your order.

The default tip is 5% or the percentage you chose for your most recent order, whichever is higher. There is a minimum suggested tip of $2 per individual warehouse delivery. Tips are optional and may be adjusted up to 24 hours after your delivery is complete.

You can modify the tip both while placing an order and after delivery is complete.

Rescheduling a delivery

You can change your delivery date and time up until a shopper begins working on your order. Here’s how to reschedule:

On a computer—

On a computer, click Account → Order History; if on a mobile device, use the side navigation and click Order History
Locate the order you’re rescheduling and click Reschedule
Choose a new delivery time and/or date
Click Save
The new delivery date/time will update in the Order Info box. You’re all set!

Refund, Returns, and Cancellation policy

Refunds and cancellations are subject to certain conditions. Please read carefully to understand our policies.

Refunds

To request a refund for any reason, you must make your request within 7 days of delivery.

Please let us know as soon as possible if your order—

Is missing items that you were charged for on the final receipt
Contains damaged, spoiled, or otherwise unusable items.

Refunds are processed immediately, but it may take 5-10 business days to see the funds in your bank or credit card account, depending on your bank. You won't see refunds in your Instacart account.

You can see any Instacart credits in the Credits, promos & gift cards section of your Instacart account. Credits will automatically apply during checkout on your next order

Returns

You have the option of taking the item back to Food Bazaar with your digital receipt. The return will be subject to Food Bazaar’s return policies.

Canceling an order

You can cancel an order for a full refund without any additional fees at any time before a shopper begins shopping.

The process is simple on a browser or in the app—

Select Account → Order History
Select the order you’d like to cancel
On the Order page, select Cancel order

When you cancel an order during the shopping or delivery processes, you may be charged a cancellation fee of up to $15. To cancel after shopping has begun, reach out to Instacart Support at 1-888-246-7822.

Instacart Express

Linking your Instacart Express membership to your Food Bazaar account

Linking your Instacart Express membership to your Food Bazaar account allows you to use your Instacart Express benefits while ordering with Instacart through Food Bazaar’s website. To link—

Log in to the shop.foodbazaar.com site
From the homepage, select the Account button at the top right corner next to the cart icon (it should show your membership account name).
Select My Profile.
Here, you should see a box on the right hand of the screen asking to link Express membership to Instacart Account.
Enter your Instacart email and password, then select Log in.
An authorization box will pop up asking you to authorize Food Bazaar to use your Instacart account. Select Allow.
Your Express membership is now linked to your Food Bazaar account!

Unknown charges, recurring payments, and other authorizations

See a charge from Instacart you don’t recognize? Before you reach out to us for help, you might want to double-check it’s not—

An Instacart Express subscription fee
A temporary authorization hold for an order in process
An adjusted total for changes in your order (e.g., items unavailable or replaced items at a different price).

Temporary authorization hold amounts

For orders in process, Instacart places a temporary authorization hold for a slightly higher amount than your estimated order total. This small difference accounts for potential changes in the final total due to special requests, added items, items replaced at a different price, and actual weight of items.

We release the authorization hold after your order is delivered or canceled. It can take 3-5 business days for the pending charge to drop, depending on your bank.

Instacart will only charge you for the total of the items delivered to you.

Final total different from total at checkout

When you place an order, Instacart shows you the anticipated total, including estimated taxes and fees. The final total charged to your card may be different if any changes occur during the shopping process, such as—

An item is out of stock and you’re refunded
You add an item to your order after checkout
An item you order needs to be replaced, and the replacement has a different price
An item you order is sold by weight and the exact weight is slightly different
Your personal shopper fulfills a special request for an item not in the catalog.

Recurring charges

For security reasons, Instacart’s payment processor cannot store a card's CVC on file. Instacart’s payment processor flags the initial charge as "recurring" so that you don’t have to re-enter your card information every time you place an order.

Fraudulent charges

If the scenarios outlined in this article do not apply, and you still feel the charge you see is fraudulent, please email retailsupport@instacart.com and include the following information—

The last four digits of your card number
The date of the unauthorized charge(s)
The amount of the unauthorized charge(s)

Talk to Instacart before disputing unknown charges directly with your bank. When a dispute is filed, the associated Instacart account is placed on hold during the investigation, which can take up to 90 days.

Alcohol policies

Ordering alcohol

Alcohol delivery is available from select Food Bazaar locations. You can check availability in your area through shop.foodbazaar.com.

Some legal restrictions apply to alcohol orders—

Customers must be 21 or older to order alcohol items and provide an approved photo ID showing their birthdate at delivery.
Alcohol special requests cannot be added to orders.
If an alcohol item is out of stock, your shopper will contact you to get approval for a replacement. Otherwise, they’ll refund the items.
Shoppers can only add alcohol to replace other alcoholic items.

Alcohol delivery

Shoppers must deliver to recipients that are 21 or older and will verify your age and scan your ID when they deliver. Your information isn’t stored on shoppers’ personal devices. Some states require a signature before the alcohol can be delivered.

Special restrictions include—

We can’t deliver alcohol to visibly intoxicated persons or leave alcohol unattended.
We can’t deliver alcohol if the customer doesn’t meet all delivery requirements. In these cases, we refund the alcohol and return it to the store.

Valid forms of identification (ID)

These are the accepted forms of valid ID for alcohol deliveries—

United States-issued driver's license with photo
United States-issued military ID
State-issued identification card

Please note—Instacart temporarily accepts expired drivers licenses and state IDs for alcohol orders if—

The ID expired on or after March 1, 2020 AND the customer is 35 or older (in all states except California and New York), OR
The customer is 65 or older, regardless of the state or expiration date

Food Bazaar Loyalty Account Assistance

For assistance with your Food Bazaar loyalty account, including points not being added or being added incorrectly, please contact the Food Bazaar Help Desk:

Phone: 1-800-553-8341 (U.S.)

Food safety

Food safety and quality is a top priority at Instacart. All shoppers are well-equipped with knowledge to make sure your food is properly picked and maintained at all stages of the shopping process.

Educating shoppers on food safety

Instacart helps prepare shoppers to safely handle and transport food with an interactive Food Safety Walkthrough and a Shopper Food Safety Requirements and Best Practices guide. Shoppers learn to look for the freshest possible items and pay special attention to expiration dates, broken seals, and the quality of fresh produce.

Storing food properly

Insulated bags and coolers are also used to make sure your items stay at the correct temperature while in transit from the warehouse to you.

Adding instructions for specific items, replacements, or delivery

Add instructions for how you want your order shopped and/or delivered. Through instructions, you can let your shopper know that you prefer greener bananas or help them find the apartment to drop off your order.

Item instructions

You can add item instructions from your cart, on the checkout page, or even after you place your order (but only before it’s been shopped).

From your cart: Click or tap Instructions on the item for which you’d like to leave a note
From the checkout page: Click or tap Review to review items and add instructions
After you ordered: Visit the Order page to review your items and add any instructions

Item instructions carry over to future orders. If your item preferences change, make sure to review your notes when ordering the same items in the future.

During checkout, you can request the order be left at your door if you're not around. This option will notify the shopper it’s an unattended delivery and prompt them to take a picture of the order at your door before they leave.

Please note— If you choose for your order to be left unattended, you accept full responsibility for the order after it has been delivered, including any loss due to theft or temperature sensitivity damage.

Replacement instructions

Items may be out of stock. When this happens, you have 3 options—

Find Best Match: Your shopper selects the best possible replacement. This is the default option for when items aren’t available.
Pick Specific Replacement: To select your own replacement, tap or click on the item, then select Pick Specific Replacement. You can search the catalog or choose a replacement from a list of suggestions.
Don’t Replace: If you prefer not to replace an item, choose Don’t Replace to get a refund instead.

Keep in mind you’ll be refunded or charged for the difference in price for replacement items.

If you have order notifications turned on, look for alerts when an item is replaced or refunded.

Delivery instructions

Adding delivery instructions can help shoppers deliver your order. Your delivery driver sees these instructions when they start heading your way.

Useful info to include—

Parking locations
Building security or gate information
Specific directions for hard-to-locate front doors
Any markers on your home that might help the shopper find the best entrance

You can add delivery instructions—

While placing the order
After placing the order (but before your order is shopped)
When adding an address to your account

If your shopper is working on your order, you can contact your shopper directly.

Please note that shoppers who can’t reach you via chat or phone may not be able to deliver your order.

In-store sales and coupons

Some sales and promotions available in-store may not be available online

How to use EBT SNAP:

SNAP via EBT Card

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal program that provides assistance for low- and no-income U.S. residents to purchase food. SNAP benefits are processed through the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) debit card system.

Customers in the U.S. can pay for online orders with a valid EBT card, in full or in part, from participating retailers in select states. You can shop at any participating retailer as long as the state that issued your EBT card is currently participating in the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot.

Currently, Food Bazaar cannot accept EBT cash.

By associating your EBT card to your Food Bazaar account, you confirm that your card information is current and valid. To successfully use your EBT card, a credit or debit card must also be linked to your account to cover fees, bottle deposits in some states, taxes, delivery tips, and any other non-EBT SNAP-eligible items you may want to purchase.

Managing your EBT card on your account

Customers in the U.S. can pay for online orders with a valid EBT card, in full or in part, from participating Food Bazaar stores in select states. We plan to expand the number of states and retailers accepting online EBT payments on the Food Bazaar platform.

If you don’t see EBT SNAP as an option for your local Food Bazaar store, make sure you have the latest version of the app. If you still can’t see EBT SNAP, check back often as we expand to more Food Bazaar stores.

To add an EBT card to your account on shop.foodbazaar.com or in the Food Bazaar:

Click or tap the three horizontal lines in the top left corner.
Click EBT SNAP
Select Add next to EBT SNAP card.
Enter the first name, last name, and card number on the EBT card.
Select Save.

Note: Only one EBT card can be saved to your profile. To add a different EBT card, remove the first one.

To remove an EBT card from your account on Instacart.com—

Click the three horizontal lines in the top left corner..
Click EBT SNAP
Click Remove next to the EBT SNAP card.
Enter the first name, last name, and card number on the EBT card.
Click Remove Card again to confirm you want to remove the EBT card from your account.

To successfully use your EBT card, you must also add a credit or debit card to your Instacart account to cover fees, bottle deposits in some states, taxes, delivery tips, and any other non-EBT SNAP-eligible items you may want to purchase.

Shopping for EBT SNAP-eligible items

Make sure that you have added EBT card to your account to view EBT eligible items

There are a few ways for you to see which items are EBT SNAP eligible.

When searching for items you can add a filter by tapping All Departments > Three Lines (highlighted in the image below) > EBT Eligibility and clicking on Apply Filters to see only EBT-eligible items.

If you are browsing items from the Store Homepage, tap or click on a specific item to see if it is EBT SNAP eligible. If it is eligible, it will say EBT below the price of the item.

You can confirm which items are EBT SNAP-eligible in your cart before checking out. It will say EBT under the name of each item that qualifies.

List of EBT SNAP-eligible items

With an EBT card, you can buy the following items—

Fruits and vegetables
Meat, poultry, and fish
Dairy products
Breads and cereals
Other foods such as snack foods and non-alcoholic beverages
Seeds and plants, which produce food for the household to eat

An EBT card can't buy the following items—

Alcoholic beverages such as: - Beer - Wine - Liquor
Cigarettes and tobacco
Vitamins, medicines, and supplements - If an item has a Supplement Facts label, it is considered a supplement and is not eligible for EBT SNAP purchases.
Live animals (except shellfish, fish removed from water, and animals slaughtered prior to pick-up from the store).
Prepared foods fit for immediate consumption
Hot foods
Any nonfood items such as: - Pet foods - Cleaning supplies - Paper products - Other household supplies - Hygiene items - Cosmetics

Checking out with your EBT card

Customers in the U.S. can pay for online orders with a valid EBT card, in full or in part, from participating Food Lion stores in select states. We plan to expand the number of states and retailers accepting online EBT payments on the Food Lion platform.

To checkout, visit your cart and tap or click the green Checkout button. You’ll be asked to add a delivery address and your payment information—

Enter your credit or debit card information and address
Add your EBT card information
Click or tap Edit to change the amount that will apply to your EBT card
Click or tap Confirm payment method
On the Place Order page, confirm all information is correct
Click or tap Place Order
After placing your order, you will be prompted to enter your EBT card pin to verify your purchase

You’ll notice there is a payment breakdown on the Place Order page. You’ll see what will be charged to your EBT card and what will be charged to your credit or debit card.

Note: All delivery and service fees, bottle deposit fees in some states, taxes, tips, and any items that are not EBT SNAP-eligible will be charged to your credit or debit card.

When reviewing your payment methods and EBT card at checkout, you’ll notice a by-weight items message under EBT card.

When purchasing an item by weight, such as meat or produce, your shopper may need to make adjustments to the weight causing the item to be slightly heavier due to in-store availability.

When this happens, you can choose how you will be charged for this weight adjustment—

Charge the extra cost of weighted items to your credit or debit card
Cancel the item and receive a refund

Note: You can change your selected option at any time in your account.

Replacing and adding items after checkout

Replacement instructions

After placing your order, you can select replacement items if the item you want is out of stock. Items may be out of stock. When this happens, you have 3 options—

Find Best Match: Your shopper selects the best possible replacement. This is the default option for when items aren’t available.
Pick Specific Replacement: To select your own replacement, tap or click on the item, then select Pick Specific Replacement. You can search the catalog or choose a replacement from a list of suggestions
Don’t Replace: If you prefer not to replace an item, choose Don’t Replace to get a refund instead.

To avoid charges on your credit or debit card, replacements for EBT SNAP items must be—

EBT SNAP-eligible
Equal to or less than the value of the original item

If the replacement costs more, the difference is charged to the credit or debit card you added at checkout. When searching for replacement items, look for EBT under the price of each item to know if it is EBT SNAP-eligible.

Adding items after checkout

If you add any items to an in-progress order, it automatically charges to the credit or debit card you entered at checkout or that you have on file. If the item is EBT SNAP-eligible, you can change this charge to your EBT card after adding the item to your cart.

You can adjust charges on your EBT card up until you’ve received your order.

To change how you’re charged for EBT SNAP-eligible items after checkout in the Food Bazaar app—

Tap More in the upper right.
Tap Adjust totals.
Tap Charge more to EBT.
Enter the amount you want to charge to your EBT card. Then tap Charge more to EBT.
Enter your EBT pin and tap Submit.

To change how you’re charged for EBT SNAP-eligible items after checkout on the website—

Click Manage order then Charge more to EBT.
Enter the amount you want to charge to your EBT card. Then click Charge more to EBT.
Enter your EBT pin and click Submit.
At the bottom of your receipt, you can see a payment split breakdown of how much is charged to your credit or debit card and EBT card.

If you can't see the Charge more to EBT option, make sure you have the latest version of the Food Bazaar app.