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There are probably two main segments of customer for this service. Customer A cares about convenience, and customer B cares about saving time (also logistics).

There are probably two main segments of customer for this service. Customer A cares about convenience, and customer B cares about saving time (also logistics). One could argue that they are the same thing, but there is a difference in degree. Customer B can arguably save an hour of their time by having a large order of groceries delivered. How much is that time worth? Ten dollars/euros is an easy minimum value to set. That will probably turn away most prospective customers but the remaining customers that do use the service will be buying a lot more groceries per trip.

Vinnl 5y ago
It's not just about how much that time is worth to them, but also how much cheaper the alternative is. For example, when we're talking about large orders of groceries, the "regular" supermarkets can already deliver that to you at a price of around €5. I don't see people paying significantly more than that just to be able to have it delivered within ten minutes, because that usually doesn't result in significant additional time savings. (I also imagine that even at a €10 price point, delivering large orders within ten minutes will still be loss-making, which I suppose is fine if you're trying to eliminate competition, but not if you're going to be unable to raise those prices in the long term.)
- itronitron 5y ago
  I agree, I wasn't really thinking about 10 minute delivery. And I think grocery stores could charge more for delivery, but there seems to be some implicit cost-savings for them to deliver which offsets the need for a higher delivery charge. My main thought is that I think there is a larger opportunity to provide delivery of a higher quality service and that the current delivery startups seem to be focused on the bottom rung. Taking restaurants as an example... Where I live, I can order food delivery in under one hour from hundreds of restaurants that is almost guaranteed to be crap. It would be nice to be able to order direct from a better restaurant and have it be edible. I would be willing to schedule this days in advance and for a specific time in the evening, almost like a reservation. But no one to my knowledge has presented this as an option to restaurants or consumers. Instead everything is haphazard which imposes a burden on restaurant kitchens and results in unpredictable results for customers.

Vinnl 5y ago

It's not just about how much that time is worth to them, but also how much cheaper the alternative is. For example, when we're talking about large orders of groceries, the "regular" supermarkets can already deliver that to you at a price of around €5. I don't see people paying significantly more than that just to be able to have it delivered within ten minutes, because that usually doesn't result in significant additional time savings. (I also imagine that even at a €10 price point, delivering large orders within ten minutes will still be loss-making, which I suppose is fine if you're trying to eliminate competition, but not if you're going to be unable to raise those prices in the long term.)

itronitron 5y ago
I agree, I wasn't really thinking about 10 minute delivery. And I think grocery stores could charge more for delivery, but there seems to be some implicit cost-savings for them to deliver which offsets the need for a higher delivery charge. My main thought is that I think there is a larger opportunity to provide delivery of a higher quality service and that the current delivery startups seem to be focused on the bottom rung. Taking restaurants as an example... Where I live, I can order food delivery in under one hour from hundreds of restaurants that is almost guaranteed to be crap. It would be nice to be able to order direct from a better restaurant and have it be edible. I would be willing to schedule this days in advance and for a specific time in the evening, almost like a reservation. But no one to my knowledge has presented this as an option to restaurants or consumers. Instead everything is haphazard which imposes a burden on restaurant kitchens and results in unpredictable results for customers.