10 Items or Less: First Mail, Now Groceries, Always Delivering a Smile

The Instacart shopper community is as diverse as the items in the grocery store — every day, tens of thousands of individuals shop, deliver, and become an extension of people’s households. We want to share this community’s stories, highlighting Instacart shoppers, shift leads, and site managers all across North America. 10 Items or Less is a series featuring just some of the amazing members of the Instacart community, sharing their unique experiences and secret sauce with the world.

1. What’s your name and where are you from? My name is Sharon, and I’m from Vallejo, California, but I do most of my shopping in San Francisco.
2. How long have you been working with Instacart? I’ve been working as a full-service shopper for almost two years.
3. What were you doing before you started shopping for Instacart? I was a rural carrier associate for the US Postal Service.
4. Why did you decide to become an Instacart shopper? As a postal worker, I had really long hours and was required to work six days a week. I wanted a lot more flexibility and the ability to set my own hours. My friend told me about Instacart and it excited me because I’m a shopaholic. I love going into stores and finding groceries — it soothes me. I get paid to do what I love, and that’s a great thing.
5. What’s your favorite thing about being a shopper? I love the actual shopping, and being able to bring people their groceries. Food is a necessity; everybody needs it. When I show up to someone’s door — maybe they’re a family with kids, or they’re homebound — they’re so happy to see me. That makes me really happy.
6. What’s been your favorite customer experience? There’s a family in my area who I always deliver to. They have two kids, and whenever I drop off the groceries, they always tell me they love me. It makes me feel like what I’m doing is so worthwhile.
7. What’s your favorite meal? I love filet mignon. I’m trying not to eat so much red meat, but I love filet mignon. With some truffle butter and some grilled broccolini.
8. What’s your secret sauce — a shopping tip that a lot of people might not know? I see a lot of people who are shopping for themselves not choosing their produce very carefully. You can’t just throw an apple or an avocado in your cart — you’ll bruise it! Avocados need to be firm, not squishy, a little green, and not too ripe. Same with apples — a perfect Honeycrisp apple is red and shiny with no bruises.
9. What’s your favorite item to shop for? I love when people order meat. Ribeyes, filet mignon — I love looking at the cut, making sure that it’s nice and red and fresh. I’m friendly with the butchers at the stores where I shop, so they always give me the best ones. I’m really proud that when my customers open the cut of meat I select for them, I know they’re getting the best ones.
10. Have you made any relationships through being an Instacart shopper? I’ve made so many relationships through Instacart. I always take the time to say good morning and introduce myself to people in the store — whether it’s the store manager, the butcher, people in the deli, the baggers. Because of those relationships, if I can’t find something, people will go out of their way to help me find it or select the best item for my customer. It’s so important to have those relationships and introduce myself since I work with them all the time.