Dive Brief:

• Shipt has started accepting SNAP EBT benefits as a payment method for grocery deliveries from Target and Meijer through its marketplace, the company announced Wednesday. Shipt’s website notes that SNAP shoppers will be able to order from “others soon.”
• The Target-owned e-commerce provider is offering SNAP participants discounted access to its membership program, which provides free delivery on orders of at least $35.
• Shipt described its decision to accept SNAP benefits as part of its effort to reduce food insecurity and increase access to nutritious foods.

Dive Insight:

Shipt’s addition of SNAP to its system reflects a broad effort by grocers and e-commerce companies to allow shoppers enrolled in the federal nutrition assistance program to use their benefits to order groceries online.

Shipt said its decision to accept SNAP for orders from Target and Meijer would help boost access to healthy food in nearly three-quarter of U.S. communities designated as food deserts.

The company did not indicate when it would begin accepting SNAP for orders with grocers other than Target and Meijer.

Shipt said it will provide SNAP participants with access to its membership program for $4.99 per month, a discount of more than 50% off its standard fee, adding that the offer will not expire. In addition to free deliveries on orders that meet the order minimum, the program offers members perks such as the ability to select a preferred shopper to assemble their orders.

The USDA, which administers SNAP, announced in June 2023 that Alaska had become the final state to allow merchants to accept SNAP for online grocery purchasing, capping a rollout that began in 2019.

Shipt is following competitors including Instacart and DoorDash in adding the ability for people to use SNAP benefits to place orders on its platform.

Instacart began accepting SNAP benefits in a pilot with Aldi in late 2020 and started offering SNAP participants a 50% discount on its membership program in late 2022. DoorDash, meanwhile, began accepting SNAP as a payment with select grocery retailers last summer after noting earlier in 2023 that it plans to accept the benefits for grocery delivery orders in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico by 2025. 

Shipt has made adjustments including laying off staff last fall as it has sought to adjust to changing consumer demand for grocery e-commerce services.