Did you know you could use SNAP to order groceries online?
Our SNAP Online Purchasing Guides show you how!
DISCLAIMER: We last updated our guides in the summer of 2021. Many more online stores have since started accepting SNAP online. Many stores have also changed how their SNAP online shopping works. Check out the USDA SNAP online website for an updated list of SNAP online stores.
SNAP Online Guides
Buy groceries online for pick-up or delivery using your SNAP EBT card!
Our step-by-step guides — available in English, Spanish, and Mandarin — walk you through the ordering process, on your phone or computer.
Type in your state’s name to find guides for your state!
And use our pro-tips to find deals and healthy options with SNAP online!
About the Guides
Everyone should be have dignified access to healthy, fresh, affordable food - whether you’re shopping with a credit card or a SNAP EBT card - at a grocery store or online.
With the support of our partners Providers and Project Bread, our guides have been accessed over 40,000 times.
When COVID-19 broke out in the US, it was almost impossible to use SNAP to order groceries online for curbside pick-up or delivery. We dove in to help change that: working with policymakers and decision-makers, collecting and analyzing state-by-state data, sharing our experiences shopping online, and listening to the experiences of our friends, family members, and online community members.
Among the insights we learned was: this program is hard to use.
It’s hard to find healthy options because retailers do not deliver to every zipcode, and there are more ads and deals for unhealthy products than healthy ones.
It can be more expensive. Online groceries can be pricier, and SNAP doesn’t cover shipping and delivery.
It’s hard to use online EBT shopping websites. Many websites are only in English, and don’t look good on phones.
We set out to make accessible, user-friendly guides to help guide SNAP participants through the process of ordering groceries online for curbside pick-up or delivery. We received guidance and support from the Stanford Sustainable Cities Class, with whom we partnered to conduct compensated user interviews with SNAP participants on their online shopping experiences and challenges, our partners at CSPI, NYU School of Medicine, and the Farragut Food Club, who weighed in on the accessibility of our language and visuals and help edit multiple drafts of the guides, and our unBox team members, friends, family, and online community members on SNAP.
The result?
We created guides - a walkthrough visual booklet and one-page pamphlet - for every state participating in SNAP Online.
The project has taken the teamwork of 11 students and recent graduates hailing from 3 US states, and Argentina.
With the support of our partners Providers and Project Bread, our guides have been accessed over 40,000 times, and over 50 SNAP participants have reached out to us, sharing their experiences with SNAP, with SNAP online, and with the guides.
