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[Asha] We're on a Marketplace mission.
[♪♪♪]
[Asha] Setting up inside this house.
To test a popular and convenient trend.
Grocery delivery apps!
It's fast, it's easy, but are you getting ripped off?
-Joanne! -Hi!
-You're here. -I'm here!
We're so glad to have you.
[Asha] We're about to find out.
I've been online grocery shopping for a while now.
[Asha] Joanne Dominico is here to help.
She's a mom, she runs her own business, and she's often
looking for ways to save time.
I just felt like I was getting hours of my life back.
And then when the pandemic hit, I was like, this is even
better, because now I don't have to go
into crowded grocery stores.
[Asha] With so many Canadians now turning to
online grocery shopping
we want to know is the convenience worth the cost?
So we're going shopping, buying from some of the biggest
supermarkets in the country.
Loblaws, Walmart, and Costco.
This year inflation is a real concern food prices
are on the rise.
And it could mean about a thousand dollars more a
year for a family of four.
So we want to see if we're paying even more shopping
on apps like Instacart or is in-store still a better deal.
So you know we're doing a test here.
I'm going to go into the grocery store, pick up the same
items that you're going to buy online, here in this house.
What do you think is going to happen?
I think convenience always has a cost, so I have
a feeling I might.
I hope that's not the case, but I kind of have a feeling.
-We're going to see. -All right.
[Both] Let's do this.
High five!
[Asha] Our test starts here.
My grocery list has 20 items on it.
Same deal for Joanne and our producer Tyana back at
this home.
They're ordering their items from Loblaws too
using Instacart.
Instacart's current value, 39 billion dollars!
Based in Silicon Valley, it's Canadian founder Apoorva Mehta
says due to the pandemic the company has seen five years of
growth in five weeks.
Customers want the convenience of delivery.
[Asha] At its core the app is about enlisting a shopper to do
your groceries and deliver them right to your front door, but
how much is that really costing you?
Yes.
I would love to get some apples, because my son Justin
loves apples.
Especially green apples.
it's $9.85, add to cart.
Okay. Great.
What is next? Oh, look, 12 grain bread.
Dempsters, yeah, there you go.
That's the one.
Oh look at that, got the last whole grain.
Oh, there it is, Korean pork belly roast.
What are we looking at for price?
$16.45.
For a pork belly roast.
$16.45.
Add to cart.
[Asha] I'm halfway through.
Time to check in with the home team.
Hi Joanne, hi Ty.
Found this cucumber for $2.49.
What did you guys get?
$2.49.
Same price.
Well I found a sale on the marble cheese, $5.99.
Okay, ours is $7.65.
Yeah, so you didn't get the sale.
Unfortunately, no.
Alright, what about that four-berry blend, the club
size?
$18.99.
Okay, so we paid $20.85.
Wow!
So why would it be so much more online.
We're already getting charged additional fees for the
convenience but the actual price of the item should be the
same.
Hmm.
Interesting.
[Asha] Okay, let's see what's happening at the other
big stores.
We're checking out Costco.
These are Honey Crispy Apples.
So here's Tuxedo cake, yummy.
21.99, salt and pepper chicken wings, mmm looks good.
Whose hungry?
-Where did you want to go? -Costco.
Costco? Hold on.
[Asha] Martin Courcelles and his wife, Erin are big Costco
shoppers and they use grocery apps all the time.
Martin is blind, Erin uses a wheelchair.
Getting to a grocery store isn't always easy for them.
Okay, going to use Instacart then.
[Asha] Instacart is accessible with a built-in screen reader.
[Screen reader] One item-- two-- increase quantity-- two dollar--
Martin slows it down for us so we can follow along.
[Screen reader] Grey ridge large eggs 30cc.
[Erin] That's the one.
[Screen reader] Add grey ridge large eggs to cart button.
[Asha] This is Martin's go-to app especially in the winter.
But he feels Instacart's prices and fees are excessive.
I mean for us, it's an essential service and, you
know, we have to pay through the nose to use it.
So it's not really fair.
-Starts adding up. -Yeah.
-We call it the disability tax. -The disability tax?
Yeah, it's a joke between my wife and I but it does feel
like you're being sort of singled out because of
your disability.
[Asha] Martin says he and Erin work full time but many in his
community aren't so lucky.
A lot of people with disabilities aren't working
these days.
And this might be the only way that they can get food
in the house.
And for them, you know, all these extra costs, it builds up.
[Asha] So we ask Instacart if they're considering a break in
fees for those living with a disability.
They say they have a dedicated line customers like Martin can
call but say nothing about discounts.
And our spot check finds hidden markups at Costco too.
Remember these chicken wings?
In store they're about $22 bucks, on the app $24.
A 2-dollar markup.
Next up, a price check with Walmart.
I'm going to look at Walmart.
Oh, you guys should look at this.
it says in-store prices.
Walmart.
-What does that mean? -I don't know.
We go inside to find out.
'Okay so we got roasted red pepper hummus, $3.97, that's a
good price.
I want the family size Cinnamon Toast Crunch, okay.
That's the same price!
[Asha] That's surprising.
Shop in-store, on Walmart's website, or on Instacart and
you're actually paying the same price including sales!
The trick is look for this "in-store" mark to get the same
prices on Instacart but you won't see that when shopping at
Costco and Loblaws on the app.
You want to check our bills right, see what our totals come
up to. Let's do this.
$242.49 is mine.
I paid three $316.65.
$316.65?!
Are you kidding me?
And we got the exact same groceries.
[Asha] Whoa, so in total Joanne pays 74 dollars more!
Let's breakdown that number.
The Tre Stelle 1 kilo feta cheese around 25 bucks in-store
at Loblaws.
With Instacart it's listed for about 27 dollars.
That's a difference of $2.46!
-What? Is that a lot? -Yes!
Looking for those meatballs.
Italian beef, yeah, looks like this is it.
[Asha] Happens again.
-Yeah. -Got that.
Add to cart, beef meatballs.
And how much was that?
[Asha] In store these meatballs cost $12.99 but on
Instacart $15.35.
And at Costco, this big box of Scotties tissues, in-store $23.
On Instacart, more than $25 bucks.
But see a sale in-store, you'll get the same deal on Instacart.
Not with Loblaws.
Now, you missed out on some sales.
Okay.
How do you feel about that?
Tell me Asha, you're already breaking my heart here.
But okay, go ahead, tell me.
The biggest shocker, the butter.
Okay, how much was that?
You're looking at four dollars difference.
What? Four dollars?
I could buy another, like a whole new chunk of butter for
four dollars.
[Asha] Keep in mind, for the same groceries Joanne is paying
about $74 dollars more ordering from Instacart.
When we look at all the fees on her bill, she's paying 46 bucks
in delivery, service fees, taxes and tip.
So where's the other 27 dollars coming from?
It's all those hidden marks up and missed sales on
individual items!
And you won't find that info anywhere on the bill!
I'm thinking that that's "teef", that's the Caribbean
word for being ripped off, so I'm very surprised and I feel
misled.
What message would you have for these grocery store apps?
I think everyone's aware that if you're shopping online
you're going to pay more but I honestly had no idea that I
would have to pay that much more on 20 items, just let me
know and then I can make the choice, but when I don't know
that's when I feel disappointed.
[Asha] Loblaws and Costco markups are about the same.
But the only way to know? This small pricing disclaimer.
Easy to miss.
We ask Loblaws and Costco about it.
They say customers get a better deal when
ordering directly from them.
And get this, both tell us Instacart keeps all
the markup money.
We repeatedly ask Instacart for an
on-camera interview.
They decline so we're going to try again in person at
Instacart's Canadian headquarters.
[Woman] Hello, Instacart.
Hi there, I'm Asha Tomlinson with CBC Marketplace.
We'd like to speak with a manager.
[Woman] Just give me a second.
[Woman] I'm sorry, there's no one available to
talk to you today.
There's no one in the office.
[Woman] No there's not.
So it's just you.
[Woman] No, there's no one available to talk to you today,
there's no one in management that's here.
Retailers are telling us that Instacart is keeping the
markup money.
[Woman] Um--
A lot of Canadians would love to hear from Instacart
about this.
[Woman] I'm sure that they would, have a great day,
thank you so much.
Thank you.
Ok, so clearly they won't talk to us on camera but in an email
Instacart tell us that retailers set the prices on their app
and it's up to customers to look up those pricing policies.