A real person goes to the store for you — on a live video call.
No app to download. No clicking through 200 product photos. Just a friendly face, the actual store aisles on your screen, and you choosing the brands you've always chosen. Recurring weekly slots, preferences saved on file. Free local delivery in Minneapolis & St. Paul if it fits in our car.
Why seniors prefer Selectido over delivery apps
Most grocery delivery apps were designed for a 32-year-old who knows exactly what they want and is OK with a stranger guessing if it's out of stock. That's not how shopping works for many older adults.
The brand of bread matters. So does the salt content. So does whether the bananas are still a little green. So does who walks in the door — and whether you've met them before.
Selectido is built around four things older adults consistently tell us they want:
🤝 Recurring weekly slots
Book the same time, same store every week. Your preferences (brand of bread, no cilantro, the apple variety) are saved on file so whichever shopper picks up the booking has the context.
👀 You choose every item, in real time
You see the actual shelf through your shopper's phone. Point at the box. Say "the green one, second from the left." No swap-outs you didn't authorize.
📞 No app to install or accounts to manage
Tap one link in a text or email. The video starts. That's it. Your son, daughter, or grandchild can handle the booking and payment.
💛 A bit of human contact
Many of our weekly customers say the session is one of the most pleasant hours of their week. It doesn't feel like a chore — for either side.
How it works
Book a time + pick a store
Choose any Twin Cities store — Cub, Lunds, Trader Joe's, Costco, Target, Walmart. Pick today, tomorrow, or a recurring weekly slot.
Tap the link we send you
At your scheduled time, open the text or email and tap the link. The video starts. No app, no password, no setup.
Direct the shopping
Your shopper walks the aisles holding their phone so you can see. You point. They put items in the cart. You approve every choice.
Free local delivery to your door
If it fits in a compact car and you're in our service area, we drop it off after the session. No surprise fees. No tip required.
Situations Selectido is built for
If any of these sound familiar, this service is for you:
You stopped driving
You've handed in the keys (or you're tired of fighting Twin Cities winter parking lots). The grocery run shouldn't depend on whether your kids can get away from work this Saturday.
You don't trust the app substitutions
You ordered Fuji apples and got Red Delicious. You ordered low-sodium soup and got regular. You've stopped using delivery apps because the swap-outs were never right.
Your kids live out of state
They want to help. They feel guilty they can't pop by every week. This is a way they can be involved (book + pay) without being physically present.
Walking the aisles is too much
You're physically able, but a 90-minute Cub run with a cart is exhausting. A seated 1-hour video session shopping the same store is restorative instead of depleting.
You're on a tight budget
You want to compare unit prices, check the weekly ad, and skip the upcharges. You can do all that on a video call — your shopper reads labels, holds up two boxes, you pick.
You miss seeing people
An hour with a friendly Twin Cities neighbor talking about the weather and the produce section is sometimes the social highlight of the week. We hear that a lot.
Selectido vs. Instacart / Shipt for seniors
| Selectido | Instacart / Shipt | |
|---|---|---|
| Preferences saved on file | ✓ Brand, dietary, household notes carry across sessions | ✗ Start over each time |
| You see the shelves on video | ✓ Real-time | ✗ Static product photos |
| You approve every item | ✓ Real-time | Post-shop, after the swap is made |
| App-free option | ✓ One-tap link, no install | App required |
| Markup on items | ✓ None — store price | 10-30% above shelf |
| Local delivery fee | ✓ Free if it fits in our car | $3-15 per delivery |
| Tipping pressure | ✓ Optional, no suggestion | Suggested 5-20% |
| Can do pharmacy pickup same trip | ✓ Yes | Often a separate order |
| Help with low vision / hearing | ✓ Shopper accommodates | Not designed for it |
For the adult son or daughter reading this
If you're researching this for a parent, here's the practical setup:
- You create the account at selectido.com using your own email and credit card.
- You pre-load a Selectido wallet with whatever amount feels right for a few weeks of grocery runs (most families start with $200-400). The wallet covers both the session fee and the actual groceries.
- You schedule the first session at a time your parent will be home. We'll send a reminder 15 minutes before.
- Your parent joins from any device — phone, tablet, or even a laptop with a webcam. We'll text them the link.
- After the session you get the receipt photo, the wallet balance, and (optionally) a short summary of what they ordered. They get the groceries.
It works best if you set up a recurring weekly slot at the same time. After a few weeks the routine settles in — preferences saved, wallet pre-loaded — and you'll only hear from us when the balance gets low.
What it costs
- $75 per hour for the live shopping session.
- 15% off if you book 2+ hours in one session (e.g., a Costco run plus a Target run).
- Plus the items you bought — receipt photo sent to you. No markup, no upcharge.
- Free local delivery for compact-car-sized orders within Minneapolis, St. Paul, and close-in suburbs.
- No subscription. No membership. No service fee. No suggested tip.
Most weekly grocery runs fit comfortably in 1 hour. A larger Costco-plus-pharmacy combo session is usually 90 minutes to 2 hours.
Background checks + trust
Every Selectido shopper who handles deliveries to senior or vulnerable customers goes through a background check. They also do an in-person introductory video call with our founder before approval. We're a small Twin Cities team and we vet shoppers individually — not at scale through an algorithm.
If you have any concern at all about a shopper match, just let us know. We'll switch you to a different shopper for your next session, no questions asked. Our goal is for you (or your parent) to actually look forward to the weekly session.
Frequently asked questions
Three reasons. (1) Continuity: book a recurring weekly slot — preferences are saved on file (brand of bread, lower-sugar cereal, the apple variety) so whichever shopper picks up the booking has the context. (2) Real human contact: a 1-hour video session is often the most social interaction an isolated senior has all week. (3) Autonomy: your parent picks the items themselves on a video call, instead of accepting whatever a gig worker swapped in.
No. You can join from any device — phone, tablet, laptop, even a desktop computer — by tapping a single link we text or email. There's no app to download, no account complexity, no passwords to remember. If you can answer a FaceTime call from a grandchild, you can do this. We're happy to do a free 5-minute test call before your first real session.
Yes — one of our most common setups. Your son or daughter creates the account, pre-loads the wallet, and schedules the session. You just join the video call. They get the receipts; you get the shopping experience.
Selectido works on a first-to-accept model — when your booking goes out, the shoppers on duty that day see it and the first to accept is the one who shops with you. The plus side: you almost never wait long. The trade-off: it isn't always the same person each week. We make this less of a downside by saving your preferences on file (brand of bread, no cilantro, lower-sodium soup, the apple variety) so whoever picks up your booking has the context already. Our shopper team in the Twin Cities is small and growing, so over time you may recognize the same faces.
Tell us before the first session and we'll match you with an experienced shopper. Low vision: the shopper holds the phone close, reads labels aloud, confirms each item. Hearing loss: shoppers who type into the in-call chat and speak slowly. Memory: we keep your saved preferences on file so the shopper can gently confirm — "last time we got the 1% milk, want the same?" — instead of asking from scratch.
Yes — every shopper handling deliveries to senior or vulnerable customers goes through a background check. They also do an in-person introductory video call with our founder before approval. Small Twin Cities team. We vet individually.
No. Tipping is welcomed but never required and never expected. 100% of any tip goes directly to your shopper — we don't take a cut. Most seniors prefer the simplicity of a flat hourly rate with no tip math at the end.
For a typical $200 grocery run, the Instacart total (item markup + service fee + delivery fee + tip) often comes out higher than Selectido's $75/hr flat rate. We're often cheaper for larger orders. We're more expensive than Instacart for tiny last-minute orders — but for those we'd actually point you toward Instacart. Selectido is built for the weekly real shopping run, not a 3-item emergency.
Yes — pharmacy pickups (CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Costco Pharmacy) are part of the same session. The shopper goes to the pharmacy counter, shows your name + date of birth (which you confirm on the call), pays from the wallet, and brings it with the rest of the order.
If you live in Minneapolis, St. Paul, or one of our close-in suburbs (Edina, Bloomington, Roseville, Richfield, St. Louis Park, Maple Grove, and a few others), and your order fits in a compact car (typically 2-6 grocery bags), we deliver it after the session at no extra charge. For larger orders or addresses outside the ring, we still come — usually for a small $5-15 fuel charge quoted before you book.
That's fine — we can do audio-only sessions. Your parent gives directions over the phone while the shopper sends quick photos of items they're picking up. It works, though most people who try video once prefer it because they can actually see the shelves.
Yes — we deliver to assisted-living and independent-living facilities throughout the Twin Cities metro. Just let us know any check-in procedures the front desk requires. We'll coordinate with facility staff if needed.