Well, you can look over the pond to find out why. In the UK, which is much less car focused, we've had a successful instacart equivalent, Ocado, for a decade.

Well, you can look over the pond to find out why. In the UK, which is much less car focused, we've had a successful instacart equivalent, Ocado, for a decade. They're presently turning over about £1 billion per year ($1.25 billion) [1]. Market cap on today's market is £1.5 billion ($1.85 billion)[2]. Now all the major supermarkets home deliver and have for 5+ years. There's been a massive shift in the big chains' store building, they now build small "express" stores in town centres and near offices allowing people to pick up minor things without having to do a full shop. As far as I know, no-one's building large stores at the moment. And the American market is potentially worth more a lot more than the UK one. [1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31108569 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31108569 [2] https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/quote/OCDO.L?ltr=1 https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/quote/OCDO.L?ltr=1 EDIT: Other interesting note, in the UK, the markup for delivery is free or a fairly nominal charge (£5/$6), but only if you pick a slot in a few days. If you want it sooner, or in a prime-time slot, you have to pay more for those delivery slots. The supermarkets are building the costs into the prices. Also, here gas costs a lot more and it's almost cheaper to pay £5 than it is to drive to the supermarket. EDIT2: I should add the small stores have a regulatory reason they're small, UK law means only stores under a particular size can be open more than 7 hours on Sundays.