5 ms·

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. Every supermarket in Montrela offers phone orders and home delivery for a fee of less than $5 if your order is big enough ($

by biggc 10y ago

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. Every supermarket in Montrela offers phone orders and home delivery for a fee of less than $5 if your order is big enough ($50+). If you want to, you can even do your shopping in the store, and pay about two bucks to have them deliver to your house if it was in a few km. I just checked, and one of the smaller chains (4 stores) has their own online ordering platform.

laser 10y ago
Their revenue numbers must look absolutely insane, even if they're not actually profitable. I spend more money through instacart right now than any other software, and maybe all other software I use, combined.
- arikr 10y ago
  Not appropriate to count entire cart/shopping spend as Instacart's revenue. Think of that as "GMV". Instacart's revenue is their delivery charges, service charges, and any money the stores pay them / % fees. See #6 here http://a16z.com/2015/08/21/16-metrics/ http://a16z.com/2015/08/21/16-metrics/
  - laser 10y ago
    Great article, thanks.
    - arikr 10y ago
      :)
- paulcole 10y ago
  Are they counting pass-through as revenue?
pj_mukh 10y ago
All my nearby stores offer this, I still use Instacart. It lets me shop from any store, their QC is amazing, and living in a small apartment I need to make 2 or 3 $35 trips (instead of one big $150 trip) and that becomes free on Instacart (saving me close to 5hrs per week of drudgery).
- Shivetya 10y ago
  I really don't see that as sustainable for them. The fifteen percent they mention on $35 is not very much to work with. I understand buying market share but all of these services seem to follow the same route, incredible lead in pricing and then trying to find out how to raise it without driving everyone to another solution. grocery stores usually can pull this off as they tend to have pharmacies they want you to use and other services
  - ghaff 10y ago
    The problem with so many of these, what are effectively, personal services going back to the dot-com bubble is that they're effectively luxury goods for most people. And unless they actually need them for some reason (lack of mobility, don't have a car, etc.) most people don't buy a lot of unsubsidized personal services. They don't have gardeners, lawn care, drivers, etc. Some do but it can be hard to build a business out of just them.
brokenmasonjars 10y ago
None of my grocery stores within the 60 minute range offer delivery. I wish they did. I live outside of a major city, in a pretty wealthy area. There is no instacart, no amazon fresh, etc. Uber doesn't even deliver here. It's pretty lame and the population exists to support even just one of these services. Aggravates me a lot..which is an understatement.
- rrdharan 10y ago
  Where do you live? Does seem surprising...
  - ghaff 10y ago
    You'd be surprised. I live 35 miles west of Boston/Cambridge, and there are none of these delivery services. Last time I looked, Uber was available but it looked very thin--not something I could depend on for a morning appointment. All of these offerings decrease greatly in availability once you get beyond the central Metro areas of certain cities. Of course, I wouldn't use them much anyway. Assuming the thing being delivered is available locally (which is more the issue), hopping in a car and picking it up isn't a big deal. [ADDED: Well, I can use Peapod (and have when I had an injury) but didn't particularly care for it.]
    - M_Grey 10y ago
      IIRC Roche Brothers now has a similar delivery service in that area now. I'm not sure if there are others, but I wouldn't be shocked.
      - ghaff 10y ago
        I doubt it. Their nearest store is at least as far away as Boston is for me. (Doesn't seem to be a way to actually check without registering on their site.)
        M_Grey 10y ago
adventured 10y ago
Which part is causing the crazy pills effect? Webvan existed in 1996. Dozens of variations of these delivery & order services have existed spanning 20 years in the US, at start-ups and at large companies. It's about perfecting the concept, deploying fully across the nation at high quality, acquiring access to 300 million people and owning the US market (worth tens of billions in sales in total once it's saturated).
- vmateixeira 10y ago
  > It's about perfecting the concept... I think pretty much few of these unicorns are proven not to be profitable, despite exploiting their employees (read low wages, no tips) [0], [1]. What's to make perfect on a business plan already broken? [0] http://www.recode.net/2017/2/20/14503128/instacart-service-fee-tips-controversy http://www.recode.net/2017/2/20/14503128/instacart-service-f... [1] http://www.cbsnews.com/news/travis-kalanick-uber-ceo-apologizes-after-argument-with-his-own-driver/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/travis-kalanick-uber-ceo-apologi...
ulfw 10y ago
San Francisco is an odd place. And so is Silicon Valley and the big brands we all know. Most of what startups there do is to solve local problems of San Frnacisco (and there are MANY!). Taxis suck? -> Uber Hotels super shit and your rent is super high? -> AirBnB Restaurants don't deliver -> various delivery services Wholefood et al doesn't deliver -> various delivery services No laundry in your $5000 rental apt -> laundry by app A lot of those problems don't exist in more developed places. (Yet other problems do). But these big startups grow due to it's ecosystem and Marketing/PR focus on the Bay Area.
- lawless123 10y ago
  >Most of what startups there do is to solve local problems of San Francisco (and there are MANY!). San Francisco must be a paradise on Earth then? I've never been.
  - mcintyre1994 10y ago
    I've heard it called (I think on HN!) an assisted living community for people in their 20s - because all those services are subsidised by VC capital too.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    Well, specifically they serve the perceived problems of well-paid tech workers in San Francisco, which isn't actually most of the population. San Francisco has its merits but it most certainly isn't paradise on earth.
  - M_Grey 10y ago
    More like a bubble waiting to messily burst, or in the most extreme, the place we'll fondly remember after the earthquake.
  - toephu2 10y ago
    Tech center of the world with a 1970's subway system that sucks in more ways than one (hurts your ears inside and out, dirty, not on time, not many stops, frequent maintenance issues, etc.).
sgustard 10y ago
Also in my neighborhood: Google Express offers home delivery of lots of stuff. Amazon Prime Now offers home delivery of lots of stuff. But your local stores-that-deliver doesn't argue against Instacart. Isn't it in their interest to outsource that chore to someone instead of paying their own drivers?
- eli 10y ago
  I get the sense Google is backing away from Express. Around me you used to be able to pick a delivery window (potentially same day), now you can only pick a day in the future with no time. Makes it virtually unusable if you live in a city and don't have a doorman. Amazon, on the other hand, I would be worried about id I were instscart.

by biggc 10y ago

laser 10y ago

Their revenue numbers must look absolutely insane, even if they're not actually profitable. I spend more money through instacart right now than any other software, and maybe all other software I use, combined.

arikr 10y ago
Not appropriate to count entire cart/shopping spend as Instacart's revenue. Think of that as "GMV". Instacart's revenue is their delivery charges, service charges, and any money the stores pay them / % fees. See #6 here http://a16z.com/2015/08/21/16-metrics/ http://a16z.com/2015/08/21/16-metrics/
- laser 10y ago
  Great article, thanks.
  - arikr 10y ago
    :)
paulcole 10y ago
Are they counting pass-through as revenue?

pj_mukh 10y ago

All my nearby stores offer this, I still use Instacart. It lets me shop from any store, their QC is amazing, and living in a small apartment I need to make 2 or 3 $35 trips (instead of one big $150 trip) and that becomes free on Instacart (saving me close to 5hrs per week of drudgery).

Shivetya 10y ago
I really don't see that as sustainable for them. The fifteen percent they mention on $35 is not very much to work with. I understand buying market share but all of these services seem to follow the same route, incredible lead in pricing and then trying to find out how to raise it without driving everyone to another solution. grocery stores usually can pull this off as they tend to have pharmacies they want you to use and other services
- ghaff 10y ago
  The problem with so many of these, what are effectively, personal services going back to the dot-com bubble is that they're effectively luxury goods for most people. And unless they actually need them for some reason (lack of mobility, don't have a car, etc.) most people don't buy a lot of unsubsidized personal services. They don't have gardeners, lawn care, drivers, etc. Some do but it can be hard to build a business out of just them.

brokenmasonjars 10y ago

None of my grocery stores within the 60 minute range offer delivery. I wish they did. I live outside of a major city, in a pretty wealthy area. There is no instacart, no amazon fresh, etc. Uber doesn't even deliver here. It's pretty lame and the population exists to support even just one of these services. Aggravates me a lot..which is an understatement.

rrdharan 10y ago
Where do you live? Does seem surprising...
- ghaff 10y ago
  You'd be surprised. I live 35 miles west of Boston/Cambridge, and there are none of these delivery services. Last time I looked, Uber was available but it looked very thin--not something I could depend on for a morning appointment. All of these offerings decrease greatly in availability once you get beyond the central Metro areas of certain cities. Of course, I wouldn't use them much anyway. Assuming the thing being delivered is available locally (which is more the issue), hopping in a car and picking it up isn't a big deal. [ADDED: Well, I can use Peapod (and have when I had an injury) but didn't particularly care for it.]
  - M_Grey 10y ago
    IIRC Roche Brothers now has a similar delivery service in that area now. I'm not sure if there are others, but I wouldn't be shocked.
    - ghaff 10y ago
      I doubt it. Their nearest store is at least as far away as Boston is for me. (Doesn't seem to be a way to actually check without registering on their site.)
      - M_Grey 10y ago

adventured 10y ago

Which part is causing the crazy pills effect? Webvan existed in 1996. Dozens of variations of these delivery & order services have existed spanning 20 years in the US, at start-ups and at large companies. It's about perfecting the concept, deploying fully across the nation at high quality, acquiring access to 300 million people and owning the US market (worth tens of billions in sales in total once it's saturated).

vmateixeira 10y ago
> It's about perfecting the concept... I think pretty much few of these unicorns are proven not to be profitable, despite exploiting their employees (read low wages, no tips) [0], [1]. What's to make perfect on a business plan already broken? [0] http://www.recode.net/2017/2/20/14503128/instacart-service-fee-tips-controversy http://www.recode.net/2017/2/20/14503128/instacart-service-f... [1] http://www.cbsnews.com/news/travis-kalanick-uber-ceo-apologizes-after-argument-with-his-own-driver/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/travis-kalanick-uber-ceo-apologi...

ulfw 10y ago

San Francisco is an odd place. And so is Silicon Valley and the big brands we all know. Most of what startups there do is to solve local problems of San Frnacisco (and there are MANY!). Taxis suck? -> Uber Hotels super shit and your rent is super high? -> AirBnB Restaurants don't deliver -> various delivery services Wholefood et al doesn't deliver -> various delivery services No laundry in your $5000 rental apt -> laundry by app A lot of those problems don't exist in more developed places. (Yet other problems do). But these big startups grow due to it's ecosystem and Marketing/PR focus on the Bay Area.

lawless123 10y ago
>Most of what startups there do is to solve local problems of San Francisco (and there are MANY!). San Francisco must be a paradise on Earth then? I've never been.
- mcintyre1994 10y ago
  I've heard it called (I think on HN!) an assisted living community for people in their 20s - because all those services are subsidised by VC capital too.
- ghaff 10y ago
  Well, specifically they serve the perceived problems of well-paid tech workers in San Francisco, which isn't actually most of the population. San Francisco has its merits but it most certainly isn't paradise on earth.
- M_Grey 10y ago
  More like a bubble waiting to messily burst, or in the most extreme, the place we'll fondly remember after the earthquake.
- toephu2 10y ago
  Tech center of the world with a 1970's subway system that sucks in more ways than one (hurts your ears inside and out, dirty, not on time, not many stops, frequent maintenance issues, etc.).

sgustard 10y ago

Also in my neighborhood: Google Express offers home delivery of lots of stuff. Amazon Prime Now offers home delivery of lots of stuff. But your local stores-that-deliver doesn't argue against Instacart. Isn't it in their interest to outsource that chore to someone instead of paying their own drivers?

eli 10y ago
I get the sense Google is backing away from Express. Around me you used to be able to pick a delivery window (potentially same day), now you can only pick a day in the future with no time. Makes it virtually unusable if you live in a city and don't have a doorman. Amazon, on the other hand, I would be worried about id I were instscart.