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I started using instacart at the beginning of the pandemic - every experience with it was painful. From the UI to the ordering process and the interaction with

I started using instacart at the beginning of the pandemic - every experience with it was painful. From the UI to the ordering process and the interaction with the shopper, and the cost. Amazon Fresh is categorically better and it’s included in prime. I canceled Instacart and don’t see how they can compete. Edit: I use good eggs too which has been great and has some high quality options. My experience with instacart was negative enough to damage its brand for me - I hated using it.

Cerium 5y ago
I used Instacart a few times at the beginning of the pandemic as well. I quickly gave up in favor of dedicated delivery services. Now I use Yamimeal and Weee quite a bit.
axaxs 5y ago
Same. But for me they're just too expensive. I'm a rather honest guy who appreciates the same. Instacart is full of deception. You think you pay a delivery fee, a service fee, and a tip. That all seems fair. Until you realize they silently jack the price up of every single item without calling that out. Worse, they don't use discount cards. Kroger, one of the largest in the US, is well known for their cards and 'fake' deep discounts. Many times shoppers would send me a pic for a replacement item showing '12.99' on the label only to bill at double that on the receipt.
akomtu 5y ago
My hunch is that instacart is being prepared to be sold to FB, hence this move with an FB exec.
distrill 5y ago
I have been using Safeway delivery for some time now. It's much cheaper than Instacart, there's no tip pressure, the delivery people are real Safeway employees, and there's no third party sucking up value. It's so much nicer in every way. Where Instacart wins I suppose is that it's more than just Safeway, and you can get it very quickly (quickest turnaround for a Safeway delivery is next day). But that's nowhere near enough value to be competitive.
octernion 5y ago
fresh being "categorically better" must be why they are dominating the grocery delivery industry.... oh wait. sorry for your bad experience but your anecdote is not substantiated or relevant.
- fossuser 5y ago
  Fresh is cheaper, more accurate stock, doesn’t require interacting with the shopper, has more available delivery times, more vertically integrated, and (subjectively) a less crappy website - easier to do basic things like add old stuff to order without it doubling numbers of things already in cart. Instacart website was also noticeably slow. This isn’t personal - I just wouldn’t invest in or use instacart again given the alternatives. I think my anecdote is relevant since you work there, customer experience sucked. I wouldn’t bet against Amazon in this case. A middleman service will always lose out to people who own the full stack.

Cerium 5y ago

I used Instacart a few times at the beginning of the pandemic as well. I quickly gave up in favor of dedicated delivery services. Now I use Yamimeal and Weee quite a bit.

axaxs 5y ago

Same. But for me they're just too expensive. I'm a rather honest guy who appreciates the same. Instacart is full of deception. You think you pay a delivery fee, a service fee, and a tip. That all seems fair. Until you realize they silently jack the price up of every single item without calling that out. Worse, they don't use discount cards. Kroger, one of the largest in the US, is well known for their cards and 'fake' deep discounts. Many times shoppers would send me a pic for a replacement item showing '12.99' on the label only to bill at double that on the receipt.

akomtu 5y ago

My hunch is that instacart is being prepared to be sold to FB, hence this move with an FB exec.

distrill 5y ago

I have been using Safeway delivery for some time now. It's much cheaper than Instacart, there's no tip pressure, the delivery people are real Safeway employees, and there's no third party sucking up value. It's so much nicer in every way. Where Instacart wins I suppose is that it's more than just Safeway, and you can get it very quickly (quickest turnaround for a Safeway delivery is next day). But that's nowhere near enough value to be competitive.

octernion 5y ago

fresh being "categorically better" must be why they are dominating the grocery delivery industry.... oh wait. sorry for your bad experience but your anecdote is not substantiated or relevant.

fossuser 5y ago
Fresh is cheaper, more accurate stock, doesn’t require interacting with the shopper, has more available delivery times, more vertically integrated, and (subjectively) a less crappy website - easier to do basic things like add old stuff to order without it doubling numbers of things already in cart. Instacart website was also noticeably slow. This isn’t personal - I just wouldn’t invest in or use instacart again given the alternatives. I think my anecdote is relevant since you work there, customer experience sucked. I wouldn’t bet against Amazon in this case. A middleman service will always lose out to people who own the full stack.