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This is not good for Instacart. My understanding is WF was their biggest partner and source of revenue. No way amazon will use them.

zebrafish 9y ago
Why? Instacart uses humans to pick inventory from a "warehouse" and deliver it to the buyer. Amazon needs people to pick and pack, they can't just use robots to store cereal boxes on the nearest shelf in the grocery store. I bet Instacart was a major reason why Amazon bought WF. Actually, didn't Apoorva work for Amazon before creating Instacart?
- tuna-piano 9y ago
  I would definitely guess not. Why would Amazon pick and pack from a retail store and not a distribution center? And what does Instacart bring to the table? Amazon already has a website and seems to have no trouble building gigantic on-demand workforces. What else does Instacart have? I would guess close to 100% of Instacart users already use Amazon for things as well. I don't see things ending up well for Instacart at all.
  - zebrafish 9y ago
    I'm thinking that the grocery store would be the distribution center. I don't know what their transportation lanes look like but most produce just goes from the field to the grocery store. If you're already storing it there, why put it in a distro center when these stores are in the same locations. Instacart brings a userbase. Heck, maybe Amazon just buys Instacart as well. Not sure if amazon's FCs are currently equipped to store produce and milk and other things like that. Just seems like they can take advantage of existing supply chains and synergies if they embrace Instacart.
    - foobarbazetc 9y ago
      Amazon has no need for Instacart. None. They already have the infrastructure in place to replace Instacart overnight. Every Instacart shopper currently working for Instacart hates Instacart. Amazon can just hire them all away, run their own logistics, profit. That's not to say it won't be worse than Instacart. It most definitely will be.
      - octernion 9y ago
        Every Instacart shopper currently working for Instacart hates Instacart. citation needed As the engineering manager actually looking at our NPS scores from our shoppers it's disheartening to see this kind of blatantly wrong trolling on HN... if you actually have any insight (other than outdated and wrong news articles from last year), I'd love to see it. I'm personally excited for the opportunity this affords us -- completely validating this space and market.
    - dsmithatx 9y ago
      60% of US households have a prime membership. I'd say the majority of Instacart's database is already a prime member anyway. Whole Foods customers would just switch to Amazon even if they move away from Instacart.
baccredited 9y ago
Challenge often becomes an opportunity. Instacart recently landed Publix who has MUCH higher market share in the markets they serve. Disclaimer: I'm an Instacart investor.
- shimon 9y ago
  Instacart's service model, which allowed them to scale up really fast and cheap, should also allow them to scale down fast and cheap. They still have a brand, customer relationships, and demonstrated credibility partnering with retailers. I'd say the company will be fine, but many of their workers will face tough choices soon.
- hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
  Challenge will be that folks who shop at Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) are already relatively price insensitive compared to people who shop elsewhere. Instacart was such a good match for WF because it's the same demographic of people who are willing to pay a lot for convenience. Your average Publix shopper is likely to be much more price sensitive.
  - astrange 9y ago
    Whole Foods is reasonably priced for actual food. They just have a different approach to high-margin products where instead of Twinkies they sell you special homeopathic Twinkies.
    - hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
      I call BS. I really like Whole Foods, but they are WAY more expensive to fill a "normal" grocery list than a place like Publix. Granted, a lot of that is because they only sell more expensive versions of things (e.g. sometimes organic-only produce, and their meat especially tends to be much more expensive), but it's still very difficult to shop cheaply at WF.
harrisreynolds 9y ago
I was the early CTO for Shipt who helped build their grocery delivery platform and engineering team. This is obviously HUGE news in the grocery delivery space. Both Instacart and Shipt will need to double down on customer service in order to continue to thrive. The Publix/Instacart partnership is BIG for them and Shipt's partnership with Meijer is helpful to them in the midwest. The biggest keys to success here going forward is extreme efficiency and laser customer focus.
- allsystemsgo 9y ago
  I haven't had good experiences with Shipt. 1. It wasn't available in my city initially. I'm still not sure if it is. I checked fairly frequently and was never notified. That was at least a year and a half ago. 2. Applied for an iOS gig with them after they posted on HN. I've been building apps for clients for 5 years now. Never got a reply. I even followed up with their lead personally via email. Nada. Just seemed weird since they kept posting to HN asking for talent.

zebrafish 9y ago

Why? Instacart uses humans to pick inventory from a "warehouse" and deliver it to the buyer. Amazon needs people to pick and pack, they can't just use robots to store cereal boxes on the nearest shelf in the grocery store. I bet Instacart was a major reason why Amazon bought WF. Actually, didn't Apoorva work for Amazon before creating Instacart?

tuna-piano 9y ago
I would definitely guess not. Why would Amazon pick and pack from a retail store and not a distribution center? And what does Instacart bring to the table? Amazon already has a website and seems to have no trouble building gigantic on-demand workforces. What else does Instacart have? I would guess close to 100% of Instacart users already use Amazon for things as well. I don't see things ending up well for Instacart at all.
- zebrafish 9y ago
  I'm thinking that the grocery store would be the distribution center. I don't know what their transportation lanes look like but most produce just goes from the field to the grocery store. If you're already storing it there, why put it in a distro center when these stores are in the same locations. Instacart brings a userbase. Heck, maybe Amazon just buys Instacart as well. Not sure if amazon's FCs are currently equipped to store produce and milk and other things like that. Just seems like they can take advantage of existing supply chains and synergies if they embrace Instacart.
  - foobarbazetc 9y ago
    Amazon has no need for Instacart. None. They already have the infrastructure in place to replace Instacart overnight. Every Instacart shopper currently working for Instacart hates Instacart. Amazon can just hire them all away, run their own logistics, profit. That's not to say it won't be worse than Instacart. It most definitely will be.
    - octernion 9y ago
      Every Instacart shopper currently working for Instacart hates Instacart. citation needed As the engineering manager actually looking at our NPS scores from our shoppers it's disheartening to see this kind of blatantly wrong trolling on HN... if you actually have any insight (other than outdated and wrong news articles from last year), I'd love to see it. I'm personally excited for the opportunity this affords us -- completely validating this space and market.
  - dsmithatx 9y ago
    60% of US households have a prime membership. I'd say the majority of Instacart's database is already a prime member anyway. Whole Foods customers would just switch to Amazon even if they move away from Instacart.

baccredited 9y ago

Challenge often becomes an opportunity. Instacart recently landed Publix who has MUCH higher market share in the markets they serve. Disclaimer: I'm an Instacart investor.

shimon 9y ago
Instacart's service model, which allowed them to scale up really fast and cheap, should also allow them to scale down fast and cheap. They still have a brand, customer relationships, and demonstrated credibility partnering with retailers. I'd say the company will be fine, but many of their workers will face tough choices soon.
hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
Challenge will be that folks who shop at Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) are already relatively price insensitive compared to people who shop elsewhere. Instacart was such a good match for WF because it's the same demographic of people who are willing to pay a lot for convenience. Your average Publix shopper is likely to be much more price sensitive.
- astrange 9y ago
  Whole Foods is reasonably priced for actual food. They just have a different approach to high-margin products where instead of Twinkies they sell you special homeopathic Twinkies.
  - hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
    I call BS. I really like Whole Foods, but they are WAY more expensive to fill a "normal" grocery list than a place like Publix. Granted, a lot of that is because they only sell more expensive versions of things (e.g. sometimes organic-only produce, and their meat especially tends to be much more expensive), but it's still very difficult to shop cheaply at WF.

harrisreynolds 9y ago

I was the early CTO for Shipt who helped build their grocery delivery platform and engineering team. This is obviously HUGE news in the grocery delivery space. Both Instacart and Shipt will need to double down on customer service in order to continue to thrive. The Publix/Instacart partnership is BIG for them and Shipt's partnership with Meijer is helpful to them in the midwest. The biggest keys to success here going forward is extreme efficiency and laser customer focus.

allsystemsgo 9y ago
I haven't had good experiences with Shipt. 1. It wasn't available in my city initially. I'm still not sure if it is. I checked fairly frequently and was never notified. That was at least a year and a half ago. 2. Applied for an iOS gig with them after they posted on HN. I've been building apps for clients for 5 years now. Never got a reply. I even followed up with their lead personally via email. Nada. Just seemed weird since they kept posting to HN asking for talent.