It was by making pizzas at a local party store that mom-of-four Cindy Sutter stumbled into personal grocery shopping. She had a finance degree and experience with commercial cleaning, but her boss’ wife starting with Shipt switched on Cindy’s delivery drive.

“I signed up and started making three times as much money as making pizzas, and I set my own hours; that was the end of 2018 and it took off from there,” Cindy says, “I told my husband, ‘If I can make $1,000 a week delivering groceries, I'm gonna do that full-time.’ At that point, Shipt was a totally different world so I put my hours in, stomped the ground, did as many orders as I could, tried to get as many member matches as possible, and started building relationships.”

Cindy zeroed in on relationships with quality clients who clearly valued her service, tracked all clients and receipt totals, her income per order, and tip amounts higher than 10 percent. From $1,000 to $1,200 per week, then $1,500 to $1,800 per week, her income grew, but with Covid hitting, “it blew up and Shipt was crazy.”

“By that time, I’d already been doing Shipt for a couple years, had a lot of regular customers, and a group of veteran shoppers, about 15 of us, had a Facebook group,” she explains, “We share a lot of information and it’s a nice support system, but a lot of 'em aren't doing Shipt anymore.”

As COVID continued, Cindy scoped out Dumpling because “I had many customers who couldn’t get orders for three days.” So with her tight-knit neighborhood clients, some started supplying her with their own credit card so she could shop for them outside of Shipt until…

“Shipt rolled out another pay structure and kept changing our pay structure and how we were offered orders,” says Cindy, “They were doing all these bundles and I wouldn’t see half my customers who I’d been shopping with weekly for years…I have over 400 preferred customers and there were days where I’d sit without an order in the parking lot.”

One of her Facebook group friends mentioned starting their Dumpling business and “I came home that day and signed up and my first Dumpling order was one of my regulars, and I hit the ground running,” Cindy explains, “My frequent regulars have jumped Shipt and really love Dumpling because they place orders directly with me and know the service they’re gonna get…I love Dumpling so I can bring that service back to my customers plus they love it.”

Although she still does a Shipt order here and there as she expands her Dumpling business, Not Just Groceries started in September 2022, Cindy’s moving customers over as more see the benefits of Dumpling’s platform.

“Why I'm moving everybody from Shipt to Dumpling is Shipt changed the pay structure. We used to make 7.5 percent of the store receipt plus $5; they changed that, then changed it again,” Cindy explains, “I've had orders of 65 items and a $400 order, and I’m getting paid $13. Granted, I know I'm gonna get a $100 tip, but still, my client is overpaying because if it’s a $400 checkout total, they're paying almost $500 with Shipt.”

And that’s not including the differences between what she sees in-store, on Shipt, and within grocery store apps when it comes to prices. “I’ve gone into the Meijer app and been in store looking at Shipt’s app, and paper plates are $13.50 on Shipt and in store they’re $11 and on sale for $10; that’s $3.50 extra on that,” Cindy explains, “Or they have wine sales where an $18 bottle is on sale for $13, but Shipt is getting that extra, and it's more than that because the store sale is giving you $5 off and Shipt’s markup is 20 percent or more so Shipt is getting $8 or $9 on that bottle of wine.”

Once Cindy started calculating the price discrepancies and saw this disservice to her clients, on top of them not receiving store rewards and coupons, she wanted customers to move to Dumpling more than ever for transparency and in-store pricing.

With almost 8,000 Shipt shops and growing tired of Shipt’s poor customer service and lack of customer appreciation, Cindy began explaining the Dumpling difference to her clients in detail. “I've taken their Meijer receipt and said, ‘This is how much your store receipt was today, you didn't use any mPerks or coupons, and you didn't get any BOGO offers, so let's add 15 percent, that’s what you would've paid to Shipt without a tip to me,’” says Cindy.

“And I've noticed a lot of times their Dumpling order plus a tip to me is around the same amount as just their store total with Shipt,” she adds, “It’s getting customers to understand what the store prices are added to Shipt markups, and some people are like, ‘Wait, there’s a markup?’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah!’”

Educating her customers also means helping them understand her pricing, 15 percent of the order total or $15 everywhere except bulk stores, and building stronger relationships through clear communication. Cindy’s also working long hours to support growth, 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM, 7 days a week, and heading to multiple stores including Meijer, Kroger, Walmart, Target, BJ’s, Sam’s Club, Costco, and a few mom-and-pop shops.

I don’t want to keep relying on Shipt or use their platform so my goal is to have days full of only Dumpling orders, she adds. Right now, her Dumpling orders range from 20 to 50 per week, her goal is 40 to 50, with 70 total clients and 15 repeat clients.

Over the 2.5 months since starting up with Dumpling, she’s clocked $3,400 and says, “I'm definitely making more money per order and it averages out that I'm making more than what I was with Shipt.” Dumpling’s Insights tool also shows her how many orders she’s done and helps her continue tracking as her order and income averages climb.

“My current clients love the fact that I can go to any store and multiple stores with Dumpling, and they love the fact that they shop directly with me,” Cindy says. Not to mention that they finally can cash in on discount cards, rewards points, and store coupons. But before you choose a platform, she recommends testing them to see how you and your customers like the process, which includes placing orders yourself.

Choose the option that allows you to cultivate your relationships the best and provides opportunities for you to exceed client expectations. “I really like Dumpling’s app for replacements so I can send a picture of a substitute…and my customers really like that they can add to their order since I’m not timed, that Dumpling’s very transparent, and it’s easy to add a special request,” Cindy says.

“I love Dumpling and I lost my stress when shopping. It's a lot more fun now and I can shop two different stores where I can’t with Shipt, and can pick stuff up as I go,” she adds, “Dumpling has made shopping enjoyable again and it's made me feel like I'm a personal shopper for my clients, and I'm glad that I can do [all this] with Dumpling.”

Originally Published 12/22/2022