Cullman residents who are unable to travel to the grocery store can now have groceries from Publix delivered right to their door with Instacart, a new service that launched in the city earlier this month.

Instacart, which allows people to order deliveries from Publix or CVS Pharmacy, is available either on instacart.com or through the Instacart smartphone app, said Abby Pineda, a member of the Publix customer service staff.

After creating an account, customers can browse through all of the items that the store has to offer and make their selections. After filling their virtual carts and checking out, they select a one-hour time window to have their items delivered. Then, a shopper will go through the store and pick up those items to bring them to the customers’ homes.

Once the order is made, customers can track the progress of their shopper and chat with them through the app or website.

The site also shows items that are on sale and any coupons that are available, Pineda said. 

“It’s not hard,” she said. “It’s really simple.”

Instacart has only been available in Cullman since the beginning of November, so there haven’t been a lot of people using the service yet, but there are many people who use it in other parts of the state where it has been in place for longer, Pineda said.

“It’s really popular in Hunstville and Birmingham,” she said. 

It may not be popular yet, but there have been a lot of people who have called the Cullman Publix asking about deliveries to their grandparents, and this service allows for deliveries to them or anyone else who is unable to travel to the store themselves, Pineda said. 

“It’s easier that way for them,” she said.