Shipt offers free trials for Visa credit card holders

Delivery company Shipt will begin to offer temporary free memberships to millions of Visa credit card holders to try free deliveries.

It is one of several changes the Target-owned company has announced in recent months as part of its efforts to continue to grow in the wake of rapid consumer adoption of delivery services during the pandemic.

Depending on the level of credit card, users will be able to sign up for trial memberships, which means they won't be charged delivery fees on orders of $35 or more. Holders of Visa Infinite, the highest level of Visa cards, can enroll in a free three-year membership; Visa Signature card holders three months, plus nine months of half-price membership. All other Visa card holders will get a one-month trial membership, plus three months at half-price.

"On-demand delivery has become an essential and valuable part of the shopping experience for many Americans," said Brian Cole, Visa's North America head of product, in a statement. To register for the benefit, Visa holders have to visit shipt.com/visa.

Other delivery companies also have partnered with credit card companies. Instacart, for example, offered a promotion with Mastercard.

Visa's share of credit, debit and prepaid cards in circulation vs. Mastercard was 65.9% last year, according to Nielsen Report. In the United States, Visa credit card volume far outranks other general-purpose credit brands.

Shipt mainly offers grocery delivery but has expanded to stores such as CVS, and it also delivers electronics, pet supplies and alcohol from a variety of stores. Shipt memberships cost $99 a year; Shipt users can also pay per order or for a small group of Shipt passes.

The company has expanded rapidly during the pandemic, tripling its number of shoppers to about 300,000 independent contractors.

Shipt recently updated its services to allow for customers to create preferred shopper lists as well as select dietary preferences.