The app won’t accept additions between the time you check out and the time your Shopper starts shopping, so if you place an order with a special request and then go back and try to add additional items (like the app said you could), you may see a message saying “Your item total is less than $10. " even though it may not be.
Recognize what’s not able to be ordered and delivered. Per Instacart’s policy these things are unable to be ordered and delivered: live and feeder animals, furniture, non-alcoholic age restricted and over the counter items containing nicotine, items containing pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, phenylpropanolamine and dextromethorphan, holiday trees, currency, photos, lottery tickets, gift cards, weapons and weapon supplies, dry ice, hazmat chemicals, and helium tanks. [1] X Research source
Select the portion of the store where the item can be found - if you are fairly certain that you know. This is a drop-down selection box and is completely optional. If you don’t know, most places give you an “I don’t know its department” choice, or you can press Cancel instead. Add in any additional instructions. Additional instructions might be to “check expiration date” or something similar - anything that the Shopper might need to keep in mind when they pick the item. Don’t try to mention the aisle number. Instacart Shoppers don’t get aisle numbers in their list, and unless two items can be confused, don’t mention the aisle number in this field. This is more along the lines of a reminder to check for certain issues - even though Shoppers are trained to check for certain things already. You could even mention to your Shopper that they might want to ask the Deli/Butcher/etc. for the item or something that the Shopper wouldn’t expect to do. Add a photo of the item, if necessary. Take a photo of the exact product you are looking for and send it to your Shopper. Make sure to clearly capture the product’s name, size, colors and general shape of the container. This is also an optional field. Don’t use copyrighted images from other sites - search sites included. These images are intellectual property of someone else, and Instacart will re-use them if necessary if they find it necessary to add the item to the database once found. Only use images you yourself took (such as a photo where you held the product in your hand - or the product inside it’s product packaging - front side facing the camera).
