3 ms·

When I was ordering groceries from Instacart it let me choose the action in case the item is missing, like choosing a possible replacement (e.g. different brand

by mamon 8y ago

When I was ordering groceries from Instacart it let me choose the action in case the item is missing, like choosing a possible replacement (e.g. different brand of milk or frozen pizza) - for each individual item. In Poland I had similar experience, and there's also an option "call me", when the person completing my order will tell me what the issue is and let me decide. I realize, however, that the approach might not scale, especially when the phone call is required.

madrox 8y ago
It definitely doesn't scale. A lot also depends on the diligence of the person shopping on your behalf. I've found YMMV quite a bit when you rely on their judgment.
- Dylan16807 8y ago
  With human shoppers, it should be a relatively fixed percentage of the time spent shopping, right? Why doesn't that scale? On the other hand if you go high-automation you'll have more accurate inventory and the situation should improve.
  - madrox 8y ago
    It doesn't scale in the sense that it's harder to create a consistent experience as you add more shoppers. Some are good; more are terrible.
jtokoph 8y ago
We’ve had amazon orders where we specified they should ask about a replacement. They sent an in app message without notification asking if some not very related item was a good replacement. Less than 30 seconds later, the order was closed and sent out for delivery. Happened with 3+ out of stock items. To amazons credit we said we didn’t approve those replacements and they gave them to us for free.
cc439 8y ago
That works up to a point but sometimes you need something very particular where the substitutes available are inferior to the point of being wholly undesireable (like substituting hot italian sausage made in-store for prepackaged processed sausage filled with onlu god knows what) or niche enough that stores typically only stock 1 option (like clear, unflavored, unsweetened gelatin). Missing either of those items is a deal breaker when you're planning for specific meals or dishes you plan to bring to an event.

by mamon 8y ago

madrox 8y ago

It definitely doesn't scale. A lot also depends on the diligence of the person shopping on your behalf. I've found YMMV quite a bit when you rely on their judgment.

Dylan16807 8y ago
With human shoppers, it should be a relatively fixed percentage of the time spent shopping, right? Why doesn't that scale? On the other hand if you go high-automation you'll have more accurate inventory and the situation should improve.
- madrox 8y ago
  It doesn't scale in the sense that it's harder to create a consistent experience as you add more shoppers. Some are good; more are terrible.

jtokoph 8y ago

We’ve had amazon orders where we specified they should ask about a replacement. They sent an in app message without notification asking if some not very related item was a good replacement. Less than 30 seconds later, the order was closed and sent out for delivery. Happened with 3+ out of stock items. To amazons credit we said we didn’t approve those replacements and they gave them to us for free.

cc439 8y ago

That works up to a point but sometimes you need something very particular where the substitutes available are inferior to the point of being wholly undesireable (like substituting hot italian sausage made in-store for prepackaged processed sausage filled with onlu god knows what) or niche enough that stores typically only stock 1 option (like clear, unflavored, unsweetened gelatin). Missing either of those items is a deal breaker when you're planning for specific meals or dishes you plan to bring to an event.