Shop Around: Shipt to offer grocery home deliveries in Midlands

Birmingham, Ala.-based startup Shipt has expanded into the Midlands, starting with grocery delivery services from Publix throughout the Columbia area.

An on-demand grocery delivery service, Shipt expanded into Atlanta and Charlotte in fall 2015. Starting Jan. 13, Shipt will begin offering grocery home deliveries from 10 Publix locations across Columbia, Cayce, Lexington, Blythewood and Irmo.

The service works like this: After signing up online to become a Shipt member through shipt.com, members can then download the Shipt app through which they can order groceries, pay for them and schedule their delivery. The service offers unlimited deliveries within a day but will charge members a delivery fee (from $5 to $35) for orders under $35. (There are no fees for Shipt members who place orders over $35).

Local customers who sign up for a $49 Shipt membership before Jan. 13 will receive unlimited free deliveries for a year.

Through the app, customers select from items available at the local Publix stores. The app even allows members to make specifications regarding item substitutions or particulars. The service does not deliver cigarettes or alcohol, however. Shoppers for Shipt receive training on how to select quality produce and they are directed to communicate with customers to make sure orders are completed accurately, according to the company website.

Shipt says that items purchased through its app will “vary slightly from in-store prices to help cover the costs of picking, packing and processing.”

“Our customers can expect to pay about $5 more using Shipt than they would on a $35 order purchased in the store themselves,” Shipt’s website reads.

Though Publix is the grocery store Shipt uses in connection with its grocery delivery services, Shipt makes it clear that it is not affiliated with Publix. In fact, the company’s initial success came through delivery of Target goods to shoppers in Birmingham.

The area Publix locations that Shipt will offer services for are:

Gilbert/West Lexington: Hendrix Crossing

Lexington: Lexington Place

White Rock/Chapin: Murray Landing

Irmo/Seven Oaks: Kennerly Crossing, Columbiana Station

Downtown Columbia/Cayce/Springdale: Gervais Place, Rosewood Shopping Center

Forest Acres/Dentsville: Trenholm Plaza

Blythewood/Killian: Rice Creek Village, North Pointe Shopping Center

This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 11:57 AM.