8 ms·

Show HN: Ernie's, Click & Collect Groceries

71 points by rsbrown 15y ago

rsbrown 15y ago
We are actively seeking additional investors to help us open our first location. We have commitments from local investors that have us 25% towards our fundraising goal. I have yet to seriously pitch any investors outside the mid-south, which is one of my reasons for posting here on HN. I would dearly love to give my brief investor pitch to anyone seriously interested in the concept. The consumer value proposition is covered in the video linked above. The business value prop boils down to this: double-digit net margins. Seriously. I can be reached at scott@erniesgrocery.com
wccrawford 15y ago
I hope you manage to run with this. I'm sick of wasting so much time in the grocery store and I've been willing to pay to avoid it for a while now. Of course, there are some requirements: Excellent interface. I have to be able to browse your selection as easily as I can browse in a store. This means I can find things I didn't intend to find. (That's good for you and me, both.) Fast service at the curb. There's no point in saving the time inside the store if I just waste it sitting in the parking lot. Reliable time estimates. (Actually, this dove-tails with the last one, doesn't it?) Selection. I know you said you have selection, but I've yet to find 2 stores that had the same selection. I'm not terribly set on brands, but it does matter sometimes. Stock. As in, things had better be in stock. Nothing makes me angrier than when the store is out of something I need. Yes, not even long lines. Deli/Bakery/etc. When you've just dealt with a shopping trip, you don't feel like cooking that night. Bringing home something delicious and/or hot is a must. And you should seriously consider delivery, and not just curb-side. I know it's a logistical nightmare, but it eliminates 2 of the things above quite neatly. I also love the possibilities for the store itself. Because the customer never enters the store, all the standard storefront stuff is eliminated. You can use portable tablet registers to let the customer pay, and standard shopping carts are eliminated. You can use whatever is most efficient, or even invent something to make it better. And you can start off with people plucking things from shelves, but it may become economical to have robots doing that. (I believe Amazon does that, but they're pretty big and centralized.) In short, do it right and you'll make me (and a lot of other people) really happy.
- ghotli 15y ago
  Delivery sounds nice but it could quickly balloon to be the most expensive part of the business. Packaging, mobile refrigeration, etc. I like that they're focusing on curb-side pickup. I know I hate shopping with kids. I'd love to just be able to scoot by and pick up my regular stuff while they're in the backseat.
- rsbrown 15y ago
  Spot on, my friend. To highlight a few items: "Excellent interface" We have built a streamlined interface that is uniquely designed to handle grocery shopping. We believe that there is a fundamental difference in shopping for groceries online and the way we shop for other consumer merchandise (such as clothes or books). Being fast, intuitive and discoverable are the overarching goals. "you should seriously consider delivery" At a later date, perhaps. "Logistical nightmare" is absolutely right. When/if we do delivery, I want to treat it as an outsourced add-on priced at/near cost (which will still mean a hefty delivery charge in low population density areas). "I also love the possibilities for the store itself" Absolutely. In addition to your suggestions, consider the long-term opportunities related to merchandise packaging and private label goods. Customers are no longer walking the aisles making buying decisions based on physical packaging. The right packaging/private label strategy (think Trader Joe's on steroids) could eventually lead to some amazing gross margins.
  - billybob 15y ago
    Actually, I like the fact that this isn't delivery. I would expect to pay more for that, and driving to the grocery store would be no big deal if I didn't have to go in. One thing that could make things speedier would be something like an RFID tag in my car that gets scanned as I enter the parking lot, so you'd know what customers were about to pick up their groceries. (You'd have to carefully consider the privacy implications for people being tracked elsewhere, though.)
    - openczun 15y ago
      Having worked with warehouses and warehousing systems, this is actually a real problem. A normal non-refrigerated warehouse can pick items (grab from the shelf) well in advance of the "pick up" time for carriers, so orders are ready to go when the truck arrives. In Ernie's model, it becomes a challenge having items ready when customers arrive, yet minimize the amount of time perishables are out of refrigeration. This could be addressed a few ways : 1. Asking the customer roughly when they expect to pick up their orders 2. Staging orders in refrigerated and non-refrigerated sections for quick final assembly at pick-up 3. A mechanism like you've described to give some advanced warning to the warehouse. Very interesting stuff indeed -- I'm envisioning some wicked cool cross and upselling opportunities with punchfork.com's API.
deleted 15y ago
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greengirl512 15y ago
Come to Chattanooga? I would totally shop there!
paraschopra 15y ago
This is one of the ideas that make you kick yourself and say _why did I not think of it first?_ Good luck to you and I hope it succeeds!
retube 15y ago
This is an interesting concept. But I see a couple of issues: - You need physical stores. These take a lot of money and expertise to set up and run. And to expand/scale in any meaningful way will take a LOT of money. Plus of course you've got the added expense of having to actually do the shopping on behalf of your customers (ie walk round your inventory and fill the basket). Kind of the opposite to the Ikea model. As Ryan Air have conclusively proved, people will put up with ANYTHING if it's cheap(er). - Your stores are going to have to be as big as a supermarket to really be of use to people. And on the competition side: - What's the advantage over just ordering my goods online from a supermarket? I don't even need to go to the store then, they just get delivered to my front door. Or do supermarkets not do this in the US? IN the UK at any rate you can choose very specific delivery times as well. And on the marketing side: - 40 minutes in a grocery store? You can easily spend this much time online filling up your basket. Personally I've never felt that online ordering has saved me much time. The USP of online shopping is not time saving, it's "when" saving - I can do it during a quiet time at work for example. But with Ernies I still gotta go pick it up... - 73 hours per year? Doesn't sound like much to me. And walking round the store is healthier than sitting in front of your PC :)
- billybob 15y ago
  "Your stores are going to have to be as big as a supermarket to really be of use to people." Not necessarily. You could make more efficient use of space if you don't have to arrange the store to be customer-friendly. "I don't even need to go to the store then, they just get delivered to my front door. Or do supermarkets not do this in the US?" Most places, no. Where they do, it's more expensive. "Personally I've never felt that online ordering has saved me much time." It certainly could if it were done well. Don't you normally buy a lot of the same things? A good interface would remember that and help you reorder favorite items quickly. Also, groups of items - "all the stuff I need to make recipe X." The store could even upsell by suggesting a recipe and selling you all the items you need to make it, then including a printout of it. Think how quickly you could shop if you could specify the meals you want to make this week instead of looking for each item individually.
  - retube 15y ago
peteretep 15y ago
I'm at work, and so don't really want to watch the video, so I'm going to ask directly: What does this give me over Ocado (or their many many many competitors - I mean, Asda deliver?!), who I order from, and then they deliver? This sounds like it just adds an extra step of my having to show up, rather than just agreeing that I'll be sat at home in my PJs watching Jeremy Kyle at the right time...
- rsbrown 15y ago
  We aren't trying to compete with home delivery offerings. We are competing with the traditional supermarket model, which is still the dominant grocery model in the United States. Because population density in the many parts of the U.S. is low, home delivery has enormous challenges to profitability. Supermarkets remain as the "normal" grocery solution, but leave a lot to be desired in terms of convenience, customer service and quality. We aim to fill that gap.
- cjrp 15y ago
  From the video, it seems like the main advantage is cost. Then again I happily pay the £50 (or whatever it is) for my unlimited Ocado pass, to avoid having to own a car in London, take the time to pick up the groceries, etc.
  - JonWood 15y ago
    Where abouts in London are you? You might like to take a look at Hubbub (www.hubbub.co.uk). Depending on where you are the most you're going to pay for delivery at the moment is £3.50, which includes same day deliveries, and we deliver from proper food shops, rather then a soulless warehouse filled by the lowest bidder ;)
    - dotBen 15y ago
      Forgive me but one of the main benefits I saw with Ocado when I lived in the UK was that deliveries were fulfilled from a Waitrose distribution center, rather than a store. That means fresher food then what is available on Waitrose's shelves. For people who are not primarily cost-sensitive (ie Ocado/Waitrose shoppers) that's a significant advantage. In fact I don't see any advantage with a store-fulfilled solution - the overheads are greater because the good had to be delivered from the distribution center to the store and put on the shelves, and there is a risk that the store picker will give me food with the shortest sell-by date to encourage stock rotation (Sainsburys do that all the time). I can see in your instance that you are trying to offer fulfillment from independent retailers and so I guess your USP is that they are offering more unique food I can't get elsewhere - but I think that's a tough sell to make it worth my while to buy from you when most of my needs can be met from Waitrose via Ocado.
nihilocrat 15y ago
Here in Montreal (perhaps also in other large cities) I can order groceries online from any of the major supermarkets and have them delivered to me (mind you, I don't have a car) for a reasonable minimum order value and a mere $2-3 extra. Maybe you are intentionally not targetting these cities, otherwise the idea is not really new at all. You want to see a grumpy clerk? Go to Switzerland and forget to put the little sticker on your bags of produce. Damn.
- halostatue 15y ago
  Italy, too. I didn't know that's what we were supposed to do when we went into a supermarket to buy a couple of peaches (or something) on vacation last year.
cliftonmckinney 15y ago
You might consider hitting up Angel List if you haven't done so already. If you're trying to raise for that first store - "proof of concept" before you go after more funds - it seems that might be a good avenue to raise those funds. Good luck to you! Edit: it will probably help a lot that you've already got a portion committed, btw.
rnernento 15y ago
I like it. One think to take into consideration is people's relationship with food. It's going to be a hard sell for some people to buy produce or meat sight unseen when selection can have a huge effect on quality. That being said I think you could build a really interesting interface. Also tremendous overhead savings, no cashiers, baggers, carts, storefront. Basically just a refrigerated warehouse and limited staff. Awesome.
oldgregg 15y ago
I like the concept. My wife used to work for plumgood food in nashville and the infrastructure build out seemed really expensive... seems like you may be able to avoid that with this if you partner with a local grocery store so you don't have to manage inventory. I would start there and put all my focus on creating a killer shopping experience online-- there are a lot of intangibles of just cruising through a grocery store that have to be rethought when you take it online. Best of luck!
- rsbrown 15y ago
  Thanks! I have actually been working with some of the principals from Plum Good (including Eric, the CEO) on the Ernie's concept. I've learned a lot from their experiences.
colinsidoti 15y ago
It's a location thing. A number of stores have tried this by me, but only one has really pulled it off. People often use it for their big family orders that are well upwards of $100. In general, the place also has better prices than other stores. There are repeat customers, but shopping online certainly doesn't account for the majority of their grocery store runs. That said, the place constantly has a line of cars with huge orders being loaded into their trunks. Never small orders. Make sure you're in an area that's largely populated by families, and make sure your prices are already good.
bentoner 15y ago
We already have this in Australia: http://www.colesonline.com.au/wcsstore/ConsumerDirectStorefrontAssetStore/images/catalog/Click&CollectPages_v04/Click&Collect_Melbourne_Brunswick.html http://www.colesonline.com.au/wcsstore/ConsumerDirectStorefr...
- rsbrown 15y ago
  Indeed, there's also Chronodrive in France: http://chronodrive.com http://chronodrive.com And soon there will be Ernie's in the U.S.A.
eggbrain 15y ago
I'll be honest, I'm skeptical. And I'm sure investors are skeptical too after spectacular failures like WebVan and Kozmo. Sure these sites were different than what you are trying to accomplish (Online --> Deliver to your door vs Online-->Pickup at local store), but they still have similar problems. Groceries operate at razor-thin margins, and being a warehouse of food will only take you so far (just ask WebVan). How do you know if your "Ernies" associate will pick a ripe apple vs a bruised one? How can Ernies be "friendly" if all the interaction is ordering online/pickup at the store? The biggest question for me is, what is to stop the competition from implementing this if it sees initial success? Order online --> Pick up at store already exists for many types of businesses, if Meijer or Publix or Acme Grocery co sees success, they'll probably add this to their options, at a much easier cost than you will (as they will already have retail stores). What competitive advantage can you use that can fight against this?
- ghotli 15y ago
  The competitive advantage I see is rooted in the background of the individual corporations. The user interface involved is the dealbreaker and I generally have little faith in large, culturally non-software companies getting user experience right.
- rsbrown 15y ago
  "Groceries operate at razor-thin margins" Groceries operate at razor-thin net margins. Ernie's will operate at double-digit net margins. If you take a look at the books for any supermarket chain, you will see that the vast majority of gross profits gets eaten up by running those large storefronts. Webvan (and other home delivery attempts) simply replaced the large storefront cost with a large logistics cost. Ernie's eliminates those costs, all while reducing the chore of shopping for the consumer. It's a win-win.
brianbreslin 15y ago
Here in Miami we have these drive through convenience stores called Farm Stores. They just recently rolled out FarmStores.com which lets you order online, then schedule a pickup, and roll through and get your stuff. Very convenient, the $5 service charge I could do without, but still convenient. The concept of only having a limited set of distribution/pickup points makes a ton of sense, much cheaper than home delivery. You are effectively offloading 2/3 of the delivery cost to the customer themselves. Things I think this could miss out on: - Impulse shopping - higher margin items added - psychological benefits of grocery experience (ooh that'd be tasty, let me buy that). fascinating marketplace to be in IMO. I'd pay not to have to wait 10 minutes in the deli counter for some sliced turkey.
- camtarn 15y ago
  That's what upsell ads are for ;) "Why not treat yourself? Instead of Own Brand Generic Turkey Slices why not try Bernard Matthews' delicious Wafer-Thin Turkey Slices, with meat from free-range turkeys, for only 20c?" "Having a BBQ? You bought barbeque sauce - what about some premium BBQ sausages and a chef's hat to grill in style?"
edw519 15y ago
I love that you're going after a market so ripe for disruption, appreciate your coming to Hacker News for feedback/community, and I wish you the best. But I think you have it backwards... The real problem is not the time spent in the supermarket, it's getting there and back. You're addressing the wrong issue. Many people want their groceries delivered for all kind of reasons: - They have small children they don't want to take with them. - Weather. - Traffic. - Health issues, elderly, shut-ins, etc. - They don't have a car. - They work and can only go the same time as everyone else who works. On the other hand, if they are going to the trouble of driving all the way to the supermarket, then they might as well go inside: - to examine and choose their own produce - to examine and choose their own meat - to examine and choose specials (which can be done well on-line) - to handle and compare similar items - to consult with the butcher/deli manager/etc. The negative attitude of employees you cite in your video has never been an issue for me. The only real issue has been the check-out lines: there are never enough, the lines are too long, and they are expensive to operate. If you are seeking large amounts of investment, why don't you just attack the real problem: getting out of the supermarket without waiting in line. All the necessary technology is already available. I just want to fill my cart and go home. Please don't become another Webvan. Take that money and leverage current technology to eliminiate check-out lines in existing supermarkets forever. That's what people really want. We don't need more infrastructure. We need better use of technology in existing infrastructure. Bar codes dragged us that industry into the 20th century. RFID can drag it into the 21st.
- dmix 15y ago
  Completely agree. I never had a problem with rude checkout staff and I found that this site stressed that very heavily. The reason I use Grocery Gateway (our local online grocery store w/ delivery) is because I live in a city and don't need a car. So I get all of my non-produce stuff delivered. It's $8 for delivery vs a $15 taxi + the time it would take for me to get there and back.
  - rsbrown 15y ago
    Keep in mind that you are a patron of a niche offering. I'm happy that it works well for you, but grocery shopping still sucks for the vast majority of shoppers in the United States. Ernie's aims to address that need.
yock 15y ago
I think this works well for processed foods and non-perishible items, but I see a real problem with meat and produce. Shoppers are accustomed to doing their own quality control when shopping for fresh items. In a real grocery store it takes real effort to choose the best meat and produce from what's available, and that decision might just be to not purchase something. Do you intend to provide this as part of your service? If so, what controls will you have in place to guarantee quality?
- rsbrown 15y ago
  Granted, not everyone will want to shop at Ernie's. Our plan is to stay focused on our target market: anyone who values the time-savings, convenience and quality above everything else. (also, anyone who doesn't relish picking veggies that have been handled, sneezed on and who knows what else by the hundreds of other shoppers that came through the supermarket before you)
jmjerlecki 15y ago
I think its an interesting approach setting up physical storefronts. Has this been thought about as a "drive-thru" add-on for existing grocery stores managed by the ernie's software? I think the number one use case is the quick trip – I need milk, eggs, bread etc. on my way home for breakfast tomorrow. I think this is really neat and I wish you complete success.
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massarog 15y ago
Who made your video on the homepage? It is nicely done.
dugmartin 15y ago
A chain here is Western Massachusetts does this: http://www.bigy.com/bigy2go/ http://www.bigy.com/bigy2go/ It works pretty well and we use it a few times a month. The problem we have is that shopping online is like ordering at a closed stack library - browsing the aisles in person lets you see deals for similar items.
flurie 15y ago
Sam's Club has been offering something like this for at least a few years by my recollection. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/pagedetails/content.jsp?pageName=howToCnP http://www.samsclub.com/sams/pagedetails/content.jsp?pageNam...

71 points by rsbrown 15y ago

We are actively seeking additional investors to help us open our first location. We have commitments from local investors that have us 25% towards our fundraising goal. I have yet to seriously pitch any investors outside the mid-south, which is one of my reasons for posting here on HN. I would dearly love to give my brief investor pitch to anyone seriously interested in the concept. The consumer value proposition is covered in the video linked above. The business value prop boils down to this: double-digit net margins. Seriously. I can be reached at scott@erniesgrocery.com

wccrawford 15y ago

I hope you manage to run with this. I'm sick of wasting so much time in the grocery store and I've been willing to pay to avoid it for a while now. Of course, there are some requirements: Excellent interface. I have to be able to browse your selection as easily as I can browse in a store. This means I can find things I didn't intend to find. (That's good for you and me, both.) Fast service at the curb. There's no point in saving the time inside the store if I just waste it sitting in the parking lot. Reliable time estimates. (Actually, this dove-tails with the last one, doesn't it?) Selection. I know you said you have selection, but I've yet to find 2 stores that had the same selection. I'm not terribly set on brands, but it does matter sometimes. Stock. As in, things had better be in stock. Nothing makes me angrier than when the store is out of something I need. Yes, not even long lines. Deli/Bakery/etc. When you've just dealt with a shopping trip, you don't feel like cooking that night. Bringing home something delicious and/or hot is a must. And you should seriously consider delivery, and not just curb-side. I know it's a logistical nightmare, but it eliminates 2 of the things above quite neatly. I also love the possibilities for the store itself. Because the customer never enters the store, all the standard storefront stuff is eliminated. You can use portable tablet registers to let the customer pay, and standard shopping carts are eliminated. You can use whatever is most efficient, or even invent something to make it better. And you can start off with people plucking things from shelves, but it may become economical to have robots doing that. (I believe Amazon does that, but they're pretty big and centralized.) In short, do it right and you'll make me (and a lot of other people) really happy.

ghotli 15y ago
Delivery sounds nice but it could quickly balloon to be the most expensive part of the business. Packaging, mobile refrigeration, etc. I like that they're focusing on curb-side pickup. I know I hate shopping with kids. I'd love to just be able to scoot by and pick up my regular stuff while they're in the backseat.
rsbrown 15y ago
Spot on, my friend. To highlight a few items: "Excellent interface" We have built a streamlined interface that is uniquely designed to handle grocery shopping. We believe that there is a fundamental difference in shopping for groceries online and the way we shop for other consumer merchandise (such as clothes or books). Being fast, intuitive and discoverable are the overarching goals. "you should seriously consider delivery" At a later date, perhaps. "Logistical nightmare" is absolutely right. When/if we do delivery, I want to treat it as an outsourced add-on priced at/near cost (which will still mean a hefty delivery charge in low population density areas). "I also love the possibilities for the store itself" Absolutely. In addition to your suggestions, consider the long-term opportunities related to merchandise packaging and private label goods. Customers are no longer walking the aisles making buying decisions based on physical packaging. The right packaging/private label strategy (think Trader Joe's on steroids) could eventually lead to some amazing gross margins.
- billybob 15y ago
  Actually, I like the fact that this isn't delivery. I would expect to pay more for that, and driving to the grocery store would be no big deal if I didn't have to go in. One thing that could make things speedier would be something like an RFID tag in my car that gets scanned as I enter the parking lot, so you'd know what customers were about to pick up their groceries. (You'd have to carefully consider the privacy implications for people being tracked elsewhere, though.)
  - openczun 15y ago
    Having worked with warehouses and warehousing systems, this is actually a real problem. A normal non-refrigerated warehouse can pick items (grab from the shelf) well in advance of the "pick up" time for carriers, so orders are ready to go when the truck arrives. In Ernie's model, it becomes a challenge having items ready when customers arrive, yet minimize the amount of time perishables are out of refrigeration. This could be addressed a few ways : 1. Asking the customer roughly when they expect to pick up their orders 2. Staging orders in refrigerated and non-refrigerated sections for quick final assembly at pick-up 3. A mechanism like you've described to give some advanced warning to the warehouse. Very interesting stuff indeed -- I'm envisioning some wicked cool cross and upselling opportunities with punchfork.com's API.

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greengirl512 15y ago

Come to Chattanooga? I would totally shop there!

paraschopra 15y ago

This is one of the ideas that make you kick yourself and say _why did I not think of it first?_ Good luck to you and I hope it succeeds!

retube 15y ago

This is an interesting concept. But I see a couple of issues: - You need physical stores. These take a lot of money and expertise to set up and run. And to expand/scale in any meaningful way will take a LOT of money. Plus of course you've got the added expense of having to actually do the shopping on behalf of your customers (ie walk round your inventory and fill the basket). Kind of the opposite to the Ikea model. As Ryan Air have conclusively proved, people will put up with ANYTHING if it's cheap(er). - Your stores are going to have to be as big as a supermarket to really be of use to people. And on the competition side: - What's the advantage over just ordering my goods online from a supermarket? I don't even need to go to the store then, they just get delivered to my front door. Or do supermarkets not do this in the US? IN the UK at any rate you can choose very specific delivery times as well. And on the marketing side: - 40 minutes in a grocery store? You can easily spend this much time online filling up your basket. Personally I've never felt that online ordering has saved me much time. The USP of online shopping is not time saving, it's "when" saving - I can do it during a quiet time at work for example. But with Ernies I still gotta go pick it up... - 73 hours per year? Doesn't sound like much to me. And walking round the store is healthier than sitting in front of your PC :)

billybob 15y ago
"Your stores are going to have to be as big as a supermarket to really be of use to people." Not necessarily. You could make more efficient use of space if you don't have to arrange the store to be customer-friendly. "I don't even need to go to the store then, they just get delivered to my front door. Or do supermarkets not do this in the US?" Most places, no. Where they do, it's more expensive. "Personally I've never felt that online ordering has saved me much time." It certainly could if it were done well. Don't you normally buy a lot of the same things? A good interface would remember that and help you reorder favorite items quickly. Also, groups of items - "all the stuff I need to make recipe X." The store could even upsell by suggesting a recipe and selling you all the items you need to make it, then including a printout of it. Think how quickly you could shop if you could specify the meals you want to make this week instead of looking for each item individually.
- retube 15y ago

peteretep 15y ago

I'm at work, and so don't really want to watch the video, so I'm going to ask directly: What does this give me over Ocado (or their many many many competitors - I mean, Asda deliver?!), who I order from, and then they deliver? This sounds like it just adds an extra step of my having to show up, rather than just agreeing that I'll be sat at home in my PJs watching Jeremy Kyle at the right time...

rsbrown 15y ago
We aren't trying to compete with home delivery offerings. We are competing with the traditional supermarket model, which is still the dominant grocery model in the United States. Because population density in the many parts of the U.S. is low, home delivery has enormous challenges to profitability. Supermarkets remain as the "normal" grocery solution, but leave a lot to be desired in terms of convenience, customer service and quality. We aim to fill that gap.
cjrp 15y ago
From the video, it seems like the main advantage is cost. Then again I happily pay the £50 (or whatever it is) for my unlimited Ocado pass, to avoid having to own a car in London, take the time to pick up the groceries, etc.
- JonWood 15y ago
  Where abouts in London are you? You might like to take a look at Hubbub (www.hubbub.co.uk). Depending on where you are the most you're going to pay for delivery at the moment is £3.50, which includes same day deliveries, and we deliver from proper food shops, rather then a soulless warehouse filled by the lowest bidder ;)
  - dotBen 15y ago
    Forgive me but one of the main benefits I saw with Ocado when I lived in the UK was that deliveries were fulfilled from a Waitrose distribution center, rather than a store. That means fresher food then what is available on Waitrose's shelves. For people who are not primarily cost-sensitive (ie Ocado/Waitrose shoppers) that's a significant advantage. In fact I don't see any advantage with a store-fulfilled solution - the overheads are greater because the good had to be delivered from the distribution center to the store and put on the shelves, and there is a risk that the store picker will give me food with the shortest sell-by date to encourage stock rotation (Sainsburys do that all the time). I can see in your instance that you are trying to offer fulfillment from independent retailers and so I guess your USP is that they are offering more unique food I can't get elsewhere - but I think that's a tough sell to make it worth my while to buy from you when most of my needs can be met from Waitrose via Ocado.

nihilocrat 15y ago

Here in Montreal (perhaps also in other large cities) I can order groceries online from any of the major supermarkets and have them delivered to me (mind you, I don't have a car) for a reasonable minimum order value and a mere $2-3 extra. Maybe you are intentionally not targetting these cities, otherwise the idea is not really new at all. You want to see a grumpy clerk? Go to Switzerland and forget to put the little sticker on your bags of produce. Damn.

halostatue 15y ago
Italy, too. I didn't know that's what we were supposed to do when we went into a supermarket to buy a couple of peaches (or something) on vacation last year.

cliftonmckinney 15y ago

You might consider hitting up Angel List if you haven't done so already. If you're trying to raise for that first store - "proof of concept" before you go after more funds - it seems that might be a good avenue to raise those funds. Good luck to you! Edit: it will probably help a lot that you've already got a portion committed, btw.

rnernento 15y ago

I like it. One think to take into consideration is people's relationship with food. It's going to be a hard sell for some people to buy produce or meat sight unseen when selection can have a huge effect on quality. That being said I think you could build a really interesting interface. Also tremendous overhead savings, no cashiers, baggers, carts, storefront. Basically just a refrigerated warehouse and limited staff. Awesome.

oldgregg 15y ago

I like the concept. My wife used to work for plumgood food in nashville and the infrastructure build out seemed really expensive... seems like you may be able to avoid that with this if you partner with a local grocery store so you don't have to manage inventory. I would start there and put all my focus on creating a killer shopping experience online-- there are a lot of intangibles of just cruising through a grocery store that have to be rethought when you take it online. Best of luck!

rsbrown 15y ago
Thanks! I have actually been working with some of the principals from Plum Good (including Eric, the CEO) on the Ernie's concept. I've learned a lot from their experiences.

colinsidoti 15y ago

It's a location thing. A number of stores have tried this by me, but only one has really pulled it off. People often use it for their big family orders that are well upwards of $100. In general, the place also has better prices than other stores. There are repeat customers, but shopping online certainly doesn't account for the majority of their grocery store runs. That said, the place constantly has a line of cars with huge orders being loaded into their trunks. Never small orders. Make sure you're in an area that's largely populated by families, and make sure your prices are already good.

bentoner 15y ago

We already have this in Australia: http://www.colesonline.com.au/wcsstore/ConsumerDirectStorefrontAssetStore/images/catalog/Click&CollectPages_v04/Click&Collect_Melbourne_Brunswick.html http://www.colesonline.com.au/wcsstore/ConsumerDirectStorefr...

rsbrown 15y ago
Indeed, there's also Chronodrive in France: http://chronodrive.com http://chronodrive.com And soon there will be Ernie's in the U.S.A.

eggbrain 15y ago

I'll be honest, I'm skeptical. And I'm sure investors are skeptical too after spectacular failures like WebVan and Kozmo. Sure these sites were different than what you are trying to accomplish (Online --> Deliver to your door vs Online-->Pickup at local store), but they still have similar problems. Groceries operate at razor-thin margins, and being a warehouse of food will only take you so far (just ask WebVan). How do you know if your "Ernies" associate will pick a ripe apple vs a bruised one? How can Ernies be "friendly" if all the interaction is ordering online/pickup at the store? The biggest question for me is, what is to stop the competition from implementing this if it sees initial success? Order online --> Pick up at store already exists for many types of businesses, if Meijer or Publix or Acme Grocery co sees success, they'll probably add this to their options, at a much easier cost than you will (as they will already have retail stores). What competitive advantage can you use that can fight against this?

ghotli 15y ago
The competitive advantage I see is rooted in the background of the individual corporations. The user interface involved is the dealbreaker and I generally have little faith in large, culturally non-software companies getting user experience right.
rsbrown 15y ago
"Groceries operate at razor-thin margins" Groceries operate at razor-thin net margins. Ernie's will operate at double-digit net margins. If you take a look at the books for any supermarket chain, you will see that the vast majority of gross profits gets eaten up by running those large storefronts. Webvan (and other home delivery attempts) simply replaced the large storefront cost with a large logistics cost. Ernie's eliminates those costs, all while reducing the chore of shopping for the consumer. It's a win-win.

brianbreslin 15y ago

Here in Miami we have these drive through convenience stores called Farm Stores. They just recently rolled out FarmStores.com which lets you order online, then schedule a pickup, and roll through and get your stuff. Very convenient, the $5 service charge I could do without, but still convenient. The concept of only having a limited set of distribution/pickup points makes a ton of sense, much cheaper than home delivery. You are effectively offloading 2/3 of the delivery cost to the customer themselves. Things I think this could miss out on: - Impulse shopping - higher margin items added - psychological benefits of grocery experience (ooh that'd be tasty, let me buy that). fascinating marketplace to be in IMO. I'd pay not to have to wait 10 minutes in the deli counter for some sliced turkey.

camtarn 15y ago
That's what upsell ads are for ;) "Why not treat yourself? Instead of Own Brand Generic Turkey Slices why not try Bernard Matthews' delicious Wafer-Thin Turkey Slices, with meat from free-range turkeys, for only 20c?" "Having a BBQ? You bought barbeque sauce - what about some premium BBQ sausages and a chef's hat to grill in style?"

edw519 15y ago

I love that you're going after a market so ripe for disruption, appreciate your coming to Hacker News for feedback/community, and I wish you the best. But I think you have it backwards... The real problem is not the time spent in the supermarket, it's getting there and back. You're addressing the wrong issue. Many people want their groceries delivered for all kind of reasons: - They have small children they don't want to take with them. - Weather. - Traffic. - Health issues, elderly, shut-ins, etc. - They don't have a car. - They work and can only go the same time as everyone else who works. On the other hand, if they are going to the trouble of driving all the way to the supermarket, then they might as well go inside: - to examine and choose their own produce - to examine and choose their own meat - to examine and choose specials (which can be done well on-line) - to handle and compare similar items - to consult with the butcher/deli manager/etc. The negative attitude of employees you cite in your video has never been an issue for me. The only real issue has been the check-out lines: there are never enough, the lines are too long, and they are expensive to operate. If you are seeking large amounts of investment, why don't you just attack the real problem: getting out of the supermarket without waiting in line. All the necessary technology is already available. I just want to fill my cart and go home. Please don't become another Webvan. Take that money and leverage current technology to eliminiate check-out lines in existing supermarkets forever. That's what people really want. We don't need more infrastructure. We need better use of technology in existing infrastructure. Bar codes dragged us that industry into the 20th century. RFID can drag it into the 21st.

dmix 15y ago
Completely agree. I never had a problem with rude checkout staff and I found that this site stressed that very heavily. The reason I use Grocery Gateway (our local online grocery store w/ delivery) is because I live in a city and don't need a car. So I get all of my non-produce stuff delivered. It's $8 for delivery vs a $15 taxi + the time it would take for me to get there and back.
- rsbrown 15y ago
  Keep in mind that you are a patron of a niche offering. I'm happy that it works well for you, but grocery shopping still sucks for the vast majority of shoppers in the United States. Ernie's aims to address that need.

yock 15y ago

I think this works well for processed foods and non-perishible items, but I see a real problem with meat and produce. Shoppers are accustomed to doing their own quality control when shopping for fresh items. In a real grocery store it takes real effort to choose the best meat and produce from what's available, and that decision might just be to not purchase something. Do you intend to provide this as part of your service? If so, what controls will you have in place to guarantee quality?

rsbrown 15y ago
Granted, not everyone will want to shop at Ernie's. Our plan is to stay focused on our target market: anyone who values the time-savings, convenience and quality above everything else. (also, anyone who doesn't relish picking veggies that have been handled, sneezed on and who knows what else by the hundreds of other shoppers that came through the supermarket before you)

jmjerlecki 15y ago

I think its an interesting approach setting up physical storefronts. Has this been thought about as a "drive-thru" add-on for existing grocery stores managed by the ernie's software? I think the number one use case is the quick trip – I need milk, eggs, bread etc. on my way home for breakfast tomorrow. I think this is really neat and I wish you complete success.

deleted 15y ago

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massarog 15y ago

Who made your video on the homepage? It is nicely done.

dugmartin 15y ago

A chain here is Western Massachusetts does this: http://www.bigy.com/bigy2go/ http://www.bigy.com/bigy2go/ It works pretty well and we use it a few times a month. The problem we have is that shopping online is like ordering at a closed stack library - browsing the aisles in person lets you see deals for similar items.

flurie 15y ago

Sam's Club has been offering something like this for at least a few years by my recollection. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/pagedetails/content.jsp?pageName=howToCnP http://www.samsclub.com/sams/pagedetails/content.jsp?pageNam...