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I rarely go to store anymore for anything and find going to the grocery store so incredibly mind numbing and unpleasant that I would pay a premium to have groce

I rarely go to store anymore for anything and find going to the grocery store so incredibly mind numbing and unpleasant that I would pay a premium to have groceries delivered. I also don't have a car so a service like this helps me get the food I need in the most convenient way possible without owning a big, expensive, depreciating object. camera pans, zooms into face I am askafriend and I am part of the "Amazon generation".

overcast 10y ago
You're in an upper echelon of consumers that can afford the luxury of not having to go and pick out your own food. Which is what I was referring to in my original comment.
- JumpCrisscross 10y ago
  In 1879 Karl Benz was granted a patent for his engine [1]; 3 decades later the Model T began production [2]. I think it's safe to predict falling last-mile delivery costs over the coming years. Middle-mile distribution, with a touch of marketing, is all grocery stores are. They just offload last-mile distribution costs to the consumer; Instacart and friends attempt to play economies of scale against that. Yes, they are currently a luxury. But it seems fair to predict they won't be for long. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car#History [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T
- nilkn 10y ago
  I don't really think you have to be in the upper echelon of consumers to afford the occasional grocery delivery. It's more about not being in the bottom echelon, i.e., you definitely do need to have some disposable income every month. As with many personal finance questions, it's very hard to make straightforward comparisons because people spend their money in such drastically different ways. The person going out to bars every weekend might express exasperation at the person ordering groceries through Instacart every other week, without realizing that they're both spending the same amount of disposable income but on different things.
- aninhumer 10y ago
  It doesn't have to be a "luxury". In the UK it costs me £1 to have my groceries delivered to my door. My nearest supermarket is only 10 mins walk, but spending a few pounds a month to replace a weekly 30+ min shopping trip with deliveries is still a no-brainer. And that's before I even consider that my local supermarket seems to have higher prices...

overcast 10y ago

You're in an upper echelon of consumers that can afford the luxury of not having to go and pick out your own food. Which is what I was referring to in my original comment.

JumpCrisscross 10y ago
In 1879 Karl Benz was granted a patent for his engine [1]; 3 decades later the Model T began production [2]. I think it's safe to predict falling last-mile delivery costs over the coming years. Middle-mile distribution, with a touch of marketing, is all grocery stores are. They just offload last-mile distribution costs to the consumer; Instacart and friends attempt to play economies of scale against that. Yes, they are currently a luxury. But it seems fair to predict they won't be for long. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car#History [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T
nilkn 10y ago
I don't really think you have to be in the upper echelon of consumers to afford the occasional grocery delivery. It's more about not being in the bottom echelon, i.e., you definitely do need to have some disposable income every month. As with many personal finance questions, it's very hard to make straightforward comparisons because people spend their money in such drastically different ways. The person going out to bars every weekend might express exasperation at the person ordering groceries through Instacart every other week, without realizing that they're both spending the same amount of disposable income but on different things.
aninhumer 10y ago
It doesn't have to be a "luxury". In the UK it costs me £1 to have my groceries delivered to my door. My nearest supermarket is only 10 mins walk, but spending a few pounds a month to replace a weekly 30+ min shopping trip with deliveries is still a no-brainer. And that's before I even consider that my local supermarket seems to have higher prices...