Wegmans now offers SNAP online purchasing via Instacart

Dive Brief:

Wegmans and Instacart announced on Wednesday that they’re accepting Electronic Benefits Transfer and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments across the grocers’ 106 stores in seven states.
Eligible shoppers will initially be able to place orders via Instacart’s marketplace. Wegmans plans to make SNAP purchasing available on its own website and app later this year, Erica Tickle, the grocer's vice president of e-commerce, said in a statement.
Wegmans joins a growing list of retailers, including Aldi and BJ's Wholesale Club, that now offer online EBT payments as companies look to expand access under the federal nutrition program.

Dive Insight:

Wegmans has become the latest retailer to offer online payment options for SNAP consumers as the federal assistance program tries to keep pace with the industry’s digital growth.

Being able to offer digital payment options to people enrolled in the program takes on particular resonance as food prices have continued to climb, with food-at-home inflation reaching 10%, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, consumers in some states are seeing their benefits come down as those states reduce the emergency funding that went into effect early in the pandemic.

Wegmans began offering online ordering through Instacart in 2017 and now offers delivery and pickup service through the e-commerce company at all of its stores. SNAP consumers who want to buy online from Wegmans will need to have an Instacart profile, where they can input their EBT information as a payment option, then locate eligible stores through Instacart’s store search function. To cover taxes, tips and additional fees, these shoppers have to use a secondary form of payment, in line with federal SNAP guidelines.

Following a slow, halting rollout of online SNAP purchasing early in the pandemic, more and more retailers, including regional grocers, have begun offering the service. Instacart ramped up the service in 2020 and now enables online SNAP payments from more than 60 retailers across 39 states and Washington, D.C.

Instacart said on Wednesday that enabling SNAP payments is part of Instacart Platform, the new retail services suite that also includes ad development, consumer insights and warehouse fulfillment.

Target, which has revamped its grocery selection in recent years, will soon allow online SNAP payments through its Shipt delivery service, Reuters reported last month.