Instacart Custom Messages – Get More Tips & Higher Ratings!
As one of the leading food delivery gigs out there, Instacart is a flexible and effective way to make extra cash.
However, tips can make a massive difference in your Instacart pay. After all, you keep 100% of all tips, so a generous customer can truly make a difference.
This means custom service is incredibly important to make more money with Instacart. And this is where Instacart custom greetings come into play.
With the right custom greeting, you can make your Instacart customer feel more cared for, potentially increasing the odds of a good rating and tip.
This guide is covering how Instacart greeting messages work, some examples of good ones, and if you should use them.
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What Is An Instacart Greeting Message?
An Instacart custom greeting is a personalized message Instacart Shoppers can send to their customer to let them know you've started shopping for their orders. Custom messages also mention that you will notify the customer of any replacements or item shortages and that they should contact you if they have any questions or edits for their orders.
In other words, your custom greeting for Instacart is how you kick start the conversation with the person you're shopping for.
There's a default custom message that can vary by market to let your customer know you're begun shopping for them. But you can also edit your own message to make it more personalized or humorous.
This might sound unimportant, but great customer service is one Instacart Shopper trick that's important to get down if you want to make more money per hour.
Best Instacart Greeting Message Ideas
Here are some examples of Instacart custom messages some shoppers are using to try and land better tips and provide better service:
- Standard Example: “Hi, this is _____ , your Instacart Shopper for today. If anything you’ve ordered is unavailable, I’ll do my best to get you a great replacement. If something has to be replaced, you’ll receive a notification to approve the replacement. If you have any questions or want to add anything to your order, please let me know. Thanks for using Instacart!”
- Funny Example: “This is your Instacart shopper, and I'm about to guac your world! Just in queso you have any special requests or need to make changes, donut hesitate to ask. I'll be sure to let you know when I'm finished shopping. Until then, romaine calm and carrot on!”
- Tips & Rating Example: “Hi, thank you for using instacart! I’m ____, I’ll be your shopper today. If an item is out-of-stock, I will do my best to search for it or find a suitable replacement. Let me know if you don’t want any substitutes. Thank you for your tips! I really depend on them, and 5 star ratings! I will message you if I have any questions!”
As you can see, shoppers take very different approaches in the tone and information they include in their customer greeting messages.
Some Shoppers also recommend saving several custom greetings to your phone's keyboard so you can quickly send different messages depending on the scenario and tone.
Some people think it's bad to ask for high star ratings and tips, but hey, experiment and decide on what you're comfortable with.
You should definitely send your customer something so they feel like you care and also know to message you if they have any questions or concerns.
How Do You Set Up An Instacart Custom Greeting?
Setting up your custom greeting for Instacart just takes a few steps:
- Open the Instacart Shopper app
- Tap on your profile
- Tap on settings
- Tap on “set custom greeting” under the Defaults section
From there, you can edit your custom greeting with text and emojis. This video from YouTuber Dash with Ash provides a very quick walkthrough.
Extra Reading – How To Get More Instacart Batches.
Using Printed-Out Instacart Thank You Notes
One very clever Instacart trick some shoppers are experimenting with is handing out custom notes with the orders they deliver.
You can actually buy digital downloads of these types of graphics from various Etsy shops.
The idea is to print out a bunch of these cards and to include them in the grocery bags you drop off for customers.
This adds a way more personal touch and could increase the odds of a good tip or 5 star rating.
It's hard to know if this strategy works without testing it, but paying $5 to $10 for a custom Instacart message print out is a pretty cheap test.
Do Instacart Shopper Greeting Messages Work?
Instacart custom greetings don't guarantee you're getting a better shopper rating or better tip. But it's important you send one anyways just so your customer knows you've started shopping and to seem more friendly.
And if you live in a bilingual market, like in some Canadian provinces or U.S. cities with a large Spanish population, you can even send a custom message that's in both languages for the best customer service possible.
And who knows: you might find your ratings and tips slowly go up as you work on sending the perfect custom message.
Other Instacart Shopper tips like delivering at the best times or multi-apping with gig apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats will still make a larger impact on your hourly income.
But every little bit helps, so make sure you test out some custom messages to find what works best.
Extra Reading – The 10+ Best Jobs Like Instacart.
Final Thoughts
I hope this guide on how to use Instacart custom greetings helps you use this feature to the best of your abilities.
Again, it probably won't make or break your Shopper ratings and tips. But if it makes a 5% difference, the extra effort is definitely worth it.
Instacart is an excellent side hustle. But like any other delivery or driving gig, working as efficiently as possible is critical for success.
If you have some personal examples of an Instacart custom message, let us know in the comments as well!
Best of luck with your shopping!
Looking for more money-making ideas? Checkout: