Does Giant Eagle Accept EBT Online? (All You Need To Know)

Giant Eagle is a grocery retail chain whose locations are all in the northern states of Maryland, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Despite its small sphere of influence, Giant Eagle is a popular supermarket and it has been around for well over a century. 

If you want to use your EBT benefits with Giant Eagle online, they have recently opened all of their stores to online purchases, for both pickup and delivery, when you pay with an EBT card. This is a recent move by Giant Eagle in response to COVID-19.

Giant Eagle made their first move towards allowing EBT purchases through its online store back in July of 2021, mostly as a response to the pandemic.

At first, only their stores in Ohio were subject to the new policy. However, Giant Eagle has thankfully spread the new policy to all of its remaining stores in their respective states. 

How to Pay with EBT for groceries on Giant Eagle’s Online Store

Shopping and paying with an EBT card on Giant Eagle’s online store is pretty easy.

But first, you have to add your EBT card to an account that you create when you first navigate to the Giant Eagle homepage.

• Select Payment Information from the tabs
• Add your EBT Card credentials in the info boxes
• You can add your EBT information at any time before your first checkout
• At Checkout, select SNAP benefits
• Select an amount to charge to SNAP
• Enter your EBT card PIN #
• Pay the remainder (if any) with your credit/debit card (for items not eligible for EBT payments)

That’s all there is to it and so long as you maintain your account with Giant Eagle, you won’t have to enter your EBT information every time you purchase more groceries.

There are also a few additional steps if you want to use your EBT card to purchase groceries for pick up or delivery. 

• Create your sign in information and add your payment method as listed above
• Select Checkout when you are finished choosing your groceries
• Select the SNAP checkbox
• Select APPLY SNAP BENEFITS
• Enter any promo codes
• Select the option of your choice, pickup/delivery
• Pay the remaining charges for pickup or delivery with a credit or debit card

That’s all there is to it. Since you can’t cover Giant Eagle’s fees with your EBT card benefits, you will have to pay that portion with a credit or debit card.

From that point, everything is the same as if you had made the purchase with a standard method. 

Unlike some retailers, you don’t have to go inside the Giant Eagle to complete your purchase if you are using an EBT card.

Some retailers require that you do so. 

Read also: What Grocery Stores Accept EBT Online? (120 Shop For Groceries With SNAP Benefits)

Perks for EBT Card Users

There are a few perks for those who are using EBT benefits to purchase their groceries from Giant Eagle. One of the biggest perks is that you don’t have to pay a minimum amount to meet the normal Giant Eagle minimum order limit.

You can spend as little or as much as you need to. Regular users will have to spend a minimum amount to use the online ordering feature with Giant Eagle.

There is one exception to this rule and that pertains to using promo codes.

When you use promo codes, you still have to meet the minimum threshold amount for the respective offer before you can qualify for the promo, which has little to do with the minimum order that you don’t have to meet with Giant Eagle orders, but it is something to be wary of. 

Even if you are paying with an EBT card, all promo codes and coupons remain active and are applied to your account and the remaining balance when the cost is tabulated.

EBT use will not disqualify you from coupons and promo code deals that Giant Eagle has to offer. 

If you are worried about returns, there is nothing about using EBT benefits that affects an item’s return eligibility either, so long as the item is normally one that is returnable.

If you choose to return an item, Giant Eagle will simply refund it directly to your EBT for your SNAP benefits.

Read also: Does Cardenas Accept EBT (SNAP, Stamp Food, EBT Online)

Can You Pay for Giant Eagle Groceries Through Instacart with EBT?

Giant Foods is a participating retailer through Instacart and both Instacart and Giant Eagle accept EBT payments for online orders.

If you choose to use Instacart to order your groceries from Giant Eagle, feel free to do so. 

Instacart and Giant Eagle are both set up in similar ways but if you want to shop Giant Eagle via Instacart, you will also have to add your EBT payment method to Instacart, even if you have already set one up through Giant Eagle. 

However, keep in mind that Instacart does require a minimum purchase, even for EBT users, while Giant Eagle does not.

The only thing separating the two is the various methods through which they conduct their promos, release coupons, offer deals, and charge fees. 

It may be in your best interests to have an account with both, using whichever one has the best offers to go with at the time. 

Read also: Does Instacart Accept EBT Cards (Grocery delivery or Pickup)

All Things Considered

Thanks to Giant Eagle shifting gears to a more online-friendly shopping environment, EBT purchases are now accepted when you decide to do your Giant Eagle grocery shopping on your PC.

That includes both picking up your groceries and having them delivered to your front door. 

References

https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/giant-eagle-accepting-ebt-payments-online/