11 ms·

Instacart Expands To Chicago

64 points by apoorvamehta 13y ago

minimax 13y ago
Mehta tells TechCrunch that “33 percent of the year, Chicago has some form of precipitation” and that his company has learned in the San Francisco area that “people just do not like grocery shopping when it’s raining.” I think in Chicago he's going to learn something about how much people like grocery shopping when it's 15°F outside too...
- joezydeco 13y ago
  I can't tell if this writer actually lived in Chicago, or just can't handle weather that isn't 72F and sunny. "It’s as cold as the last circle of Dante’s Inferno in Chicago about half the year" Um, not even close. And even when it is 15F, we don't sit and home and moan about it. Life goes on.
  - selectodude 13y ago
    Seriously, it's as hot as the last circle for about 20 percent of the year, but when it's 10 degrees out you sack up and deal with it.
    - minimax 13y ago
      I live in Chicago but I'm originally from the south. I feel exactly the opposite. To me, it feels a little bit warm in the summer for all of a month or two, then it's cold as hell in January and February.
      - joezydeco 13y ago
        You acclimate. This is why you see Chicagoans wearing shorts in March when the temperature hits 50F.
jamieomatthews 13y ago
Chicago though?
- rayiner 13y ago
  "Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta told AllThingsD that his company built a 'feasibility matrix' to determine which city it would expand to. Components of the matrix included what you might guess: car-ownership density and income. Weather was reportedly also a factor. Mehta tells TechCrunch that '33 percent of the year, Chicago has some form of precipitation' and that his company has learned in the San Francisco area that 'people just do not like grocery shopping when it’s raining.' Seattle, you might be next." I think Chicago is a natural fit. The specific neighborhoods they picked have about 600k people in 33 square miles (a bit denser overall than San Francisco as a whole). There are a ton of residential skyscrapers in those neighborhoods, which means they probably can hit several orders in one go. 30% of Chicago households don't have a car, about the same as San Francisco. It rains or is cold about half the year, and is hot and humid a couple of months out of the remainder, which makes people not want to carry groceries home.
  - mbertrand 13y ago
    Agreed. Being from Chicago I think that its very natural for all the points listed above. The density of the city with the void of competition in the space (only Peapod comes to mind) make Chicago a great market to expand too. Chicago usually doesn't come to mind first as an early adopter market but given the rapid adoption of Uber (like other cities) I think the market is proving it is interested in similar services.
  - timjahn 13y ago
    Agreed. I know many people who don't have a car living in the denser parts of the city, and grocery shopping (even for a single person living alone) can become a harder task simply because you can't carry a ton at once.
- brymaster 13y ago
  Yeah, the third largest city in the US with 2.7 million people. Perhaps you've heard of it?
kirinan 13y ago
I really hope they expand to Seattle. I know Amazon Fresh exists and that Safeway does delivery here, but they don't do same day delivery and its a lot more expensive than instacart. Some competition will do this area some good. If they can keep quality up and keep prices down, I know they can dominate this whole market.
- adamnemecek 13y ago
  I agree. I've also found that neither carries a lot of the brands and products that I want. Or alternatively, they are out of stock.
loganfrederick 13y ago
My roommate just signed up for Peapod and got our first delivery last week. I am looking forward to trying out Instacart and comparing the experience. It seems like I've been seeing an increasing number of Peapod trucks around the city the past six months (maybe it's just me), so I agree with the article's suggestion that there is demand for the service in Chicago. Edit: In case the team is reading, I'm also curious: Does Instacart have anyone (like an Operations Manager) in Chicago, or are all the logistics being handled remotely from SF?
- apoorvamehta 13y ago
  yes, we do have people on the ground in Chicago. And, we are looking for more ops focused people to join. Please email us at jobs@instacart.com - Thank you.
  - toomuchtodo 13y ago
    CV on its way!
tptacek 13y ago
What neighborhoods? Surely, not the whole city.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
  - adamgray 13y ago
    Leaving out a lot of the North side there. I was going to sign up and give it a shot (currently use Peapod) but they don't deliver to me.
    - yogo 13y ago
      For a new market the area covered is pretty good. Your neighborhood probably got skipped because of Uptown :P. Notice how far west they go in Logan Square but Humboldt Park is skipped?
      - officemonkey 13y ago
        It makes sense that they expand slowly and concentrate in areas with high-population density and good income. But yeah, I wish they came as far north as Uptown.
    - pickthenimp2 13y ago
      Can you repost the neighborhoods or recite them from memory? Original comment got deleted.
      - timjahn 13y ago
        Crain's created this handy dandy Google Map outlining the delivery area borders: http://goo.gl/maps/6iwQK http://goo.gl/maps/6iwQK
    - r00fus 13y ago
      They're still not covering my part of Silicon Valley (south bay), I'm still awaiting an invite :) Max? Please?
b_mandell 13y ago
I live in Chicago and a Trader Joes opened up near me about a week ago. This is the most fantastic news I've heard in a long time: cheap, good groceries delivered to my door!
- itstriz 13y ago
  Where is there a Trader Joe's that just opened up a week ago?
  - mertd 13y ago
    Evanston, IL.
- toofishes 13y ago
  If it opened up "near" you, can you explain why delivery is fantastic news? I think I do grocery shopping different than most people living in the city that find these services useful. If a grocery store is five minutes away or on the walk home from the train, just-in-time shopping seems much more practical.
  - rodly 13y ago
    1. You're going to spend 15-30 minutes in a grocery store vs 5 minutes selecting items from a website 2. 30 minutes + travel time is worth more to me than $3.99 3. Not having to deal with finding the items in the grocery store is worth its own point
    - timjahn 13y ago
      It's more than just $3.99 extra. The food is marked up as well. The site live chat rep just told me to except groceries to be 10% more expensive via Instacart than if you shopped yourself. I imagine it will be easy with things packaged goods, but when it comes to meat or fruit, you're hoping the personal shopper doesn't pick out some rotten fruit.
    - hnriot 13y ago
timjahn 13y ago
Hoping they expand to my neighborhood soon so I can give them a try. I think there's a big future in grocery delivery because there is so much energy expended per household buying groceries. - Drive to grocery store - Roam around store picking out groceries and putting in shopping cart - Remove all items from shopping cart, put them on belt to checkout - Take all bags of purchased groceries and put in shopping cart - Take all bags out of shopping cart, put in car - When you get home, take all bags out of shopping cart and bring into house
the_watcher 13y ago
I cannot wait until they (hopefully) come to Austin. The only chances I have to go to the grocery store are at peak hours, which makes me dread the trip, and often causes me to put it off and eat out.
jtmcmc 13y ago
Everytime I think about using instacart I see the prices are all significantly higher than me schlepping my butt down to whole foods / berkeley bowl and I don't see it as worth it.

64 points by apoorvamehta 13y ago

Mehta tells TechCrunch that “33 percent of the year, Chicago has some form of precipitation” and that his company has learned in the San Francisco area that “people just do not like grocery shopping when it’s raining.” I think in Chicago he's going to learn something about how much people like grocery shopping when it's 15°F outside too...

joezydeco 13y ago
I can't tell if this writer actually lived in Chicago, or just can't handle weather that isn't 72F and sunny. "It’s as cold as the last circle of Dante’s Inferno in Chicago about half the year" Um, not even close. And even when it is 15F, we don't sit and home and moan about it. Life goes on.
- selectodude 13y ago
  Seriously, it's as hot as the last circle for about 20 percent of the year, but when it's 10 degrees out you sack up and deal with it.
  - minimax 13y ago
    I live in Chicago but I'm originally from the south. I feel exactly the opposite. To me, it feels a little bit warm in the summer for all of a month or two, then it's cold as hell in January and February.
    - joezydeco 13y ago
      You acclimate. This is why you see Chicagoans wearing shorts in March when the temperature hits 50F.

jamieomatthews 13y ago

Chicago though?

rayiner 13y ago
"Instacart CEO Apoorva Mehta told AllThingsD that his company built a 'feasibility matrix' to determine which city it would expand to. Components of the matrix included what you might guess: car-ownership density and income. Weather was reportedly also a factor. Mehta tells TechCrunch that '33 percent of the year, Chicago has some form of precipitation' and that his company has learned in the San Francisco area that 'people just do not like grocery shopping when it’s raining.' Seattle, you might be next." I think Chicago is a natural fit. The specific neighborhoods they picked have about 600k people in 33 square miles (a bit denser overall than San Francisco as a whole). There are a ton of residential skyscrapers in those neighborhoods, which means they probably can hit several orders in one go. 30% of Chicago households don't have a car, about the same as San Francisco. It rains or is cold about half the year, and is hot and humid a couple of months out of the remainder, which makes people not want to carry groceries home.
- mbertrand 13y ago
  Agreed. Being from Chicago I think that its very natural for all the points listed above. The density of the city with the void of competition in the space (only Peapod comes to mind) make Chicago a great market to expand too. Chicago usually doesn't come to mind first as an early adopter market but given the rapid adoption of Uber (like other cities) I think the market is proving it is interested in similar services.
- timjahn 13y ago
  Agreed. I know many people who don't have a car living in the denser parts of the city, and grocery shopping (even for a single person living alone) can become a harder task simply because you can't carry a ton at once.
brymaster 13y ago
Yeah, the third largest city in the US with 2.7 million people. Perhaps you've heard of it?

kirinan 13y ago

I really hope they expand to Seattle. I know Amazon Fresh exists and that Safeway does delivery here, but they don't do same day delivery and its a lot more expensive than instacart. Some competition will do this area some good. If they can keep quality up and keep prices down, I know they can dominate this whole market.

adamnemecek 13y ago
I agree. I've also found that neither carries a lot of the brands and products that I want. Or alternatively, they are out of stock.

loganfrederick 13y ago

My roommate just signed up for Peapod and got our first delivery last week. I am looking forward to trying out Instacart and comparing the experience. It seems like I've been seeing an increasing number of Peapod trucks around the city the past six months (maybe it's just me), so I agree with the article's suggestion that there is demand for the service in Chicago. Edit: In case the team is reading, I'm also curious: Does Instacart have anyone (like an Operations Manager) in Chicago, or are all the logistics being handled remotely from SF?

apoorvamehta 13y ago
yes, we do have people on the ground in Chicago. And, we are looking for more ops focused people to join. Please email us at jobs@instacart.com - Thank you.
- toomuchtodo 13y ago
  CV on its way!

tptacek 13y ago

What neighborhoods? Surely, not the whole city.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- adamgray 13y ago
  Leaving out a lot of the North side there. I was going to sign up and give it a shot (currently use Peapod) but they don't deliver to me.
  - yogo 13y ago
    For a new market the area covered is pretty good. Your neighborhood probably got skipped because of Uptown :P. Notice how far west they go in Logan Square but Humboldt Park is skipped?
    - officemonkey 13y ago
      It makes sense that they expand slowly and concentrate in areas with high-population density and good income. But yeah, I wish they came as far north as Uptown.
  - pickthenimp2 13y ago
    Can you repost the neighborhoods or recite them from memory? Original comment got deleted.
    - timjahn 13y ago
      Crain's created this handy dandy Google Map outlining the delivery area borders: http://goo.gl/maps/6iwQK http://goo.gl/maps/6iwQK
  - r00fus 13y ago
    They're still not covering my part of Silicon Valley (south bay), I'm still awaiting an invite :) Max? Please?

b_mandell 13y ago

I live in Chicago and a Trader Joes opened up near me about a week ago. This is the most fantastic news I've heard in a long time: cheap, good groceries delivered to my door!

itstriz 13y ago
Where is there a Trader Joe's that just opened up a week ago?
- mertd 13y ago
  Evanston, IL.
toofishes 13y ago
If it opened up "near" you, can you explain why delivery is fantastic news? I think I do grocery shopping different than most people living in the city that find these services useful. If a grocery store is five minutes away or on the walk home from the train, just-in-time shopping seems much more practical.
- rodly 13y ago
  1. You're going to spend 15-30 minutes in a grocery store vs 5 minutes selecting items from a website 2. 30 minutes + travel time is worth more to me than $3.99 3. Not having to deal with finding the items in the grocery store is worth its own point
  - timjahn 13y ago
    It's more than just $3.99 extra. The food is marked up as well. The site live chat rep just told me to except groceries to be 10% more expensive via Instacart than if you shopped yourself. I imagine it will be easy with things packaged goods, but when it comes to meat or fruit, you're hoping the personal shopper doesn't pick out some rotten fruit.
  - hnriot 13y ago

timjahn 13y ago

Hoping they expand to my neighborhood soon so I can give them a try. I think there's a big future in grocery delivery because there is so much energy expended per household buying groceries. - Drive to grocery store - Roam around store picking out groceries and putting in shopping cart - Remove all items from shopping cart, put them on belt to checkout - Take all bags of purchased groceries and put in shopping cart - Take all bags out of shopping cart, put in car - When you get home, take all bags out of shopping cart and bring into house

the_watcher 13y ago

I cannot wait until they (hopefully) come to Austin. The only chances I have to go to the grocery store are at peak hours, which makes me dread the trip, and often causes me to put it off and eat out.

jtmcmc 13y ago

Everytime I think about using instacart I see the prices are all significantly higher than me schlepping my butt down to whole foods / berkeley bowl and I don't see it as worth it.