5 ms·

Instacart expands its grocery delivery service to Oakland and Berkeley

53 points by apoorvamehta 13y ago

nthitz 13y ago
Awesome! As an East Bay resident this is exactly what I have been waiting for!
2pasc 13y ago
I really love Instacart and use them often: they did a great job so far. What I am consistently amazed at, is how they manage to get press for every new city or stores added. I mean, they are a successful Company but there are other cool growing Companies that get new clients or expand to new cities or launch new products, and we don't hear about them all the time. I don't blame them for getting press. I blame the press for being so pageviews driven that they don't deliver news or reporting anymore but press releases or newsletters' content. Keep up the good work though!
- avree 13y ago
  I wouldn't look so deep into it. They got one tech blog to pick up the story, not 'press'. If you e-mail the tips@(techcrunch/thenextweb/theverge) e-mail with your startup launch, it's actually pretty easy to get the blogs to syndicate your story.
  - 2pasc 13y ago
    Fair enough ;-) Congrats on the newest version of the GetAround app...I am a user ;-)
heywoods 13y ago
Aww. You can't add Oakland or Berkeley & not have Berkeley Bowl as a grocery store option. =[
- 2pasc 13y ago
  That would be newsworthy!
  - apoorvamehta 13y ago
    Agreed. Working on it.
    - sbuccini 13y ago
      Any plans for a college student discount?
- elvisloops 13y ago
  Yeah! I didn't even realize there were other grocery stores other than Berkeley Bowl in Berkeley.
- dkl 13y ago
  My wife, who has shopped at Berkeley Bowl for decades, has in the last couple of years been complaining bitterly about the quality of produce (and the price for said produce). She's been branching out to other places (farmer's markets, Trader Joe's, and sometimes Safeway).
  - cwhittle 13y ago
    Try Monterey Market for produce. Really good quality and generally less expensive than Berkeley Bowl, especially for seasonal stuff. But only buy produce.
Fauntleroy 13y ago
I used this last week and it worked splendidly. Wish they were a little more transparent about the $35->free shipping offer being promotional, though. (After the first order it's $70->free shipping)
- apoorvamehta 13y ago
  Could you please email cs@instacart.com with specifically what you mean (ideally, screenshots). We try to be very explicit about that but maybe we missed something. Thank you.
  - 2pasc 13y ago
    On that. You should be more explicit that CostCo delivery is $9.99 even for more than $70. I did not find anything about that on your site.
w1ntermute 13y ago
My main problem with Instacart is that when shopping in person at Safeway, I can usually get 10-20% savings using my loyalty card. I don't get this benefit when using Instacart. This by itself makes me very hesitant to use it, even though my experience with Instacart has been nothing short of amazing (save for some products not being available, but that's not their fault).
- HorizonXP 13y ago
  I'm not sure how else you expect them to make money and stay in business if they shouldn't be charging you more. For me, such is the cost of convenience. If your money is more valuable than your time, then you can continue shopping at the grocery store yourself. :-)
  - w1ntermute 13y ago
    They're already charging a flat rate for shipping. I just want them to be more transparent in their pricing.
    - HorizonXP 13y ago
      While that's certainly fair, and I see your point, I don't see Safeway/Whole Foods/etc. telling you their profit margins either. The only reason you're taking issue with Instacart's pricing is because you know the price that you normally pay/they pay for the goods. :-)
- sn 13y ago
  safeway provides grocery delivery of its own which I believe automatically has the loyalty card discount: http://shop.safeway.com/ecom/home http://shop.safeway.com/ecom/home
rdl 13y ago
Thank you so much! Please add pickup from Tokyo Fish Market and Berkeley Bowl, both in Berkeley, and maybe Mollie Stone's.
zachgersh 13y ago
How does this compare to something like FreshDirect in NYC? Used freshdirect for a long time and it always felt so amazing. The timing savings always makes me feel good about paying the higher cost. I've never felt the need to order my groceries via an app, could have just been a web experience and I would have been just as interested in using Instacart. Always wondered why they started with an app. Hope this expands to LA soon.
- apoorvamehta 13y ago
  LA is coming soon. And, we do have a web app in addition to the iPhone & iPad.
  - zachgersh 13y ago
    Excellent.

53 points by apoorvamehta 13y ago

Awesome! As an East Bay resident this is exactly what I have been waiting for!

2pasc 13y ago

I really love Instacart and use them often: they did a great job so far. What I am consistently amazed at, is how they manage to get press for every new city or stores added. I mean, they are a successful Company but there are other cool growing Companies that get new clients or expand to new cities or launch new products, and we don't hear about them all the time. I don't blame them for getting press. I blame the press for being so pageviews driven that they don't deliver news or reporting anymore but press releases or newsletters' content. Keep up the good work though!

avree 13y ago
I wouldn't look so deep into it. They got one tech blog to pick up the story, not 'press'. If you e-mail the tips@(techcrunch/thenextweb/theverge) e-mail with your startup launch, it's actually pretty easy to get the blogs to syndicate your story.
- 2pasc 13y ago
  Fair enough ;-) Congrats on the newest version of the GetAround app...I am a user ;-)

heywoods 13y ago

Aww. You can't add Oakland or Berkeley & not have Berkeley Bowl as a grocery store option. =[

2pasc 13y ago
That would be newsworthy!
- apoorvamehta 13y ago
  Agreed. Working on it.
  - sbuccini 13y ago
    Any plans for a college student discount?
elvisloops 13y ago
Yeah! I didn't even realize there were other grocery stores other than Berkeley Bowl in Berkeley.
dkl 13y ago
My wife, who has shopped at Berkeley Bowl for decades, has in the last couple of years been complaining bitterly about the quality of produce (and the price for said produce). She's been branching out to other places (farmer's markets, Trader Joe's, and sometimes Safeway).
- cwhittle 13y ago
  Try Monterey Market for produce. Really good quality and generally less expensive than Berkeley Bowl, especially for seasonal stuff. But only buy produce.

Fauntleroy 13y ago

I used this last week and it worked splendidly. Wish they were a little more transparent about the $35->free shipping offer being promotional, though. (After the first order it's $70->free shipping)

apoorvamehta 13y ago
Could you please email cs@instacart.com with specifically what you mean (ideally, screenshots). We try to be very explicit about that but maybe we missed something. Thank you.
- 2pasc 13y ago
  On that. You should be more explicit that CostCo delivery is $9.99 even for more than $70. I did not find anything about that on your site.

w1ntermute 13y ago

My main problem with Instacart is that when shopping in person at Safeway, I can usually get 10-20% savings using my loyalty card. I don't get this benefit when using Instacart. This by itself makes me very hesitant to use it, even though my experience with Instacart has been nothing short of amazing (save for some products not being available, but that's not their fault).

HorizonXP 13y ago
I'm not sure how else you expect them to make money and stay in business if they shouldn't be charging you more. For me, such is the cost of convenience. If your money is more valuable than your time, then you can continue shopping at the grocery store yourself. :-)
- w1ntermute 13y ago
  They're already charging a flat rate for shipping. I just want them to be more transparent in their pricing.
  - HorizonXP 13y ago
    While that's certainly fair, and I see your point, I don't see Safeway/Whole Foods/etc. telling you their profit margins either. The only reason you're taking issue with Instacart's pricing is because you know the price that you normally pay/they pay for the goods. :-)
sn 13y ago
safeway provides grocery delivery of its own which I believe automatically has the loyalty card discount: http://shop.safeway.com/ecom/home http://shop.safeway.com/ecom/home

rdl 13y ago

Thank you so much! Please add pickup from Tokyo Fish Market and Berkeley Bowl, both in Berkeley, and maybe Mollie Stone's.

zachgersh 13y ago

How does this compare to something like FreshDirect in NYC? Used freshdirect for a long time and it always felt so amazing. The timing savings always makes me feel good about paying the higher cost. I've never felt the need to order my groceries via an app, could have just been a web experience and I would have been just as interested in using Instacart. Always wondered why they started with an app. Hope this expands to LA soon.

apoorvamehta 13y ago
LA is coming soon. And, we do have a web app in addition to the iPhone & iPad.
- zachgersh 13y ago
  Excellent.