Is Instacart about to lose its male shoppers? One TikToker, getting wind of Instacart’s new “preferred shopper” program, recorded a video to let people know, and commenters frustrated with the perceived ineptitude of male shoppers think that all the preferred shoppers chosen will be female.
Creator GigLife (@thegiglife) shows the page in a brief video tipping people off to the change. “Have you seen this yet?” he begins.
@thatgiglife This appears to be a beta test only in certain markets, but I’m wondering have any of you had experience with this preferred shopper program in Instacart yet? #greenscreen #instacart #fooddelivery #instacartpreferredshopper #gigwork #instacarttips #instacarttok ♬ original sound – GigLife
He explains that customers, “now can request you as a preferred shopper. You will schedule the time and date for the shop and delivery and this will all be based upon your availability.”
According to the Instacart site, “In the coming weeks, select Instacart customers and shoppers in various regions throughout the United States will receive an email letting them know they’ll be able to test the favorite shopper feature. This pilot will allow customers to “favorite” repeat shoppers they know and trust. They’ll then have the option to have future orders fulfilled by their favorite shoppers.”
The photo of the Instacart preferred shopper they used with the explainer, however, is of a bearded man with hair pulled back — quite possibly into a ponytail — delivering groceries to an elderly man.
“Welp all the men are done. Lol,” one person joked in the comments.
Other Tiktokers who use Instacart also couldn’t resist being snarky about the possibility of getting a male preferred shopper.
One shared their recent experience with a male Insta-can’t. “He gave me cabbage instead of a head of lettuce!”
Someone else declared, “Omg no more male shoppers. No more subbing a banana for a zucchini.”
Another person chimed in with, “Asked for sunflowers and got carnations. I went in Publix myself and the sunflowers were literally on the shelf.”
“My last Instacart shopper told me that the store didn’t have any root beer at all,” yet another shared. “Not various brands, not cans or bottles, NONE. I never want him.”
A few Instacart customers, however, said that they wouldn’t mind a male preferred shopper as male shoppers have worked out for them in the past.
“Man I have a guy on Amazon groceries I’ve gotten 3 times,” someone gushed. “Perfection. It’s an actual guy too. Lol.”
“I feel bad because not all the male Shoppers are bad but oh well.”
At least one Instacart shopper was thrilled with the preferred shopper innovation, noting, “This would be awesome! I’ve had customers ask for my number or how to request me bc they loved me so much.”
As an astute commenter observed, “Ready to find a steady shopper then just pay them off app after a relationship is formed.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment and to Instacart via email.
