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Great. Another service that automatically ships stuff to me that I already have en-masse because some heuristics have poorly analysed my requirements or rule in

by bananas 13y ago

Great. Another service that automatically ships stuff to me that I already have en-masse because some heuristics have poorly analysed my requirements or rule in favour of the seller who wrote them. Also, have people forgotten how to do literally everything themselves suddenly? I like automation but automation shouldn't deprive us of basic choices and "keep us". We should be keeping the machines, not the other way around. And no this isn't some neo-luddite rant. I said to my wife about 10 years ago that at some point in the future people will run out of things to invent. Then we'll invent services that people need. Then we'll invent services that people think they need. Then we'll invent services that people don't need and develop a dependency on them. And it's perfectly fine to run out of something. If all our needs are instantly catered for, what are we?

numlocked 13y ago
We couldn't agree more! Our model is not a beat-you-over-the-head subscription. Instead we suggest products and a schedule, and encourage you to customize each shipment. Our goal is to make this a really efficient process. Give it a try and let me know if you still feel the same way: https://www.epantry.com/sandbox/4758/ https://www.epantry.com/sandbox/4758/ Plus we try to be pretty human :) For instance if you tell us a joke on live chat, we'll give you a $2 discount. Anyway - love to hear more thoughts as you have them.
- bananas 13y ago
  Thanks for the link. This appears to be simple forward selling. I'm not suggesting that it is a subscription model but you will need to keep selling this every month. Also, I'm in the UK (not your target market but anyway) and we already have massive amounts of online delivery services like this (Tesco, ASDA, Sainsburys, Ocado, Waitrose). Ocado in fact pretty much have exactly the same model for pre-populating baskets but the scope of the service is considerably larger i.e. it covers all groceries and not a simple subset of consumables. Unfortunately the only way to market this method is having your supermarkets stalk you heavily which I find objectionable (and many others do I assure you). Disclaimer: I worked for one of the online supermarkets in the UK for a period of time and thoroughly distrust them.
  - opendais 13y ago
    I can vouch that the US doesn't have much in the way of online grocers and our brick & mortar stores already stalk you just as effectively via loyalty card programs AKA 'we raise prices and discount them to normal levels if you signup' programs. :/ I really wish a store would give me an API to purchase from. >.>
    - toomuchtodo 13y ago
      This gets you close with Amazon: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3984254/send-users-to-a-pre-filled-amazon-cart-checkout http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3984254/send-users-to-a-p...
      - opendais 13y ago
        Thank you :) It is close enough to the goal I might just tinker with it this weekend.
        toomuchtodo 13y ago
        Please keep me updated! My email is in my profile.
  - hershel 13y ago
    Does buying groceries online in the UK is cheaper than buying them offline?
    - bananas 13y ago
      Yes. I spent £130 the other day on Ocado. The equivalent would cost £168 in store in Tesco. Delivery is free if you pick a sensible slot.
toomuchtodo 13y ago
> We should be keeping the machines, not the other way around. Completely disagree. I want to build machines to "keep me", to provide for my wants and needs. Why is that wrong? And why the hell are we having software/robotics eat the world if this isn't what we want?
- numlocked 13y ago
  We started off hoping that customers could "set it and forget it". But it turns out, no matter how good your algorithms are, there's no accounting for in-laws visiting for a week and using twice as much toilet paper. So instead we're focused on dramatically lowering the cognitive overhead of purchasing these products online. We do that through a combination of suggestions/recommendations, curated product selection, and a very different take on ecommerce UX.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- secstate 13y ago
  Um. I do grow my own food. Not all of it granted, but a little household planning makes my wife's trips to the store pretty efficient. The rest comes from the garden, which we've had no problem managing ourselves without a database telling us when the carrots should be coming ready. There was a great article in Wired a while ago about how the Amish have been misunderstood as being luddites for a long time. Rather, they make as much of an informed decision about how much technology they let into their culture as possible so as to disrupt the positive aspects of their society as little as possible. That's not to say their experiment is perfect or a model for everyone else, but there is something to be said for taking a measured approach to introducing new tech and data to our lives. As one example, learning to keep track of how long you've been using your current toothbrush can seem boring and un-useful, but it's those little skills that you teach your children that help them manage other, more socially-important, aspects of their lives. Sure, the adults in the house can get a leg up on keeping track of household items, but imagine for a moment a child growing up in a world where big data tracks their needs and things magically arrive when they need them. Suddenly we must be much, much more focused and intentional about teaching them basic management skills, rather than having them taught organically via their everyday experiences.
  - opendais 13y ago
    Ya, I deleted that comment when I realized I had made a mistake in my reasoning about a couple things. I don't agree with everything you are saying but I can see where my worldview wouldn't work for some people. [Not-a-parent; No interest in growing/building my own things outside certain areas of interest] Unfortunately it slipped in the gap so someone could reply :/
hoopism 13y ago
Without commenting on this specific services (maybe it is this or maybe it's not) I HATE the monthly curated business model. It can't go away fast enough.

by bananas 13y ago

numlocked 13y ago

We couldn't agree more! Our model is not a beat-you-over-the-head subscription. Instead we suggest products and a schedule, and encourage you to customize each shipment. Our goal is to make this a really efficient process. Give it a try and let me know if you still feel the same way: https://www.epantry.com/sandbox/4758/ https://www.epantry.com/sandbox/4758/ Plus we try to be pretty human :) For instance if you tell us a joke on live chat, we'll give you a $2 discount. Anyway - love to hear more thoughts as you have them.

bananas 13y ago
Thanks for the link. This appears to be simple forward selling. I'm not suggesting that it is a subscription model but you will need to keep selling this every month. Also, I'm in the UK (not your target market but anyway) and we already have massive amounts of online delivery services like this (Tesco, ASDA, Sainsburys, Ocado, Waitrose). Ocado in fact pretty much have exactly the same model for pre-populating baskets but the scope of the service is considerably larger i.e. it covers all groceries and not a simple subset of consumables. Unfortunately the only way to market this method is having your supermarkets stalk you heavily which I find objectionable (and many others do I assure you). Disclaimer: I worked for one of the online supermarkets in the UK for a period of time and thoroughly distrust them.
- opendais 13y ago
  I can vouch that the US doesn't have much in the way of online grocers and our brick & mortar stores already stalk you just as effectively via loyalty card programs AKA 'we raise prices and discount them to normal levels if you signup' programs. :/ I really wish a store would give me an API to purchase from. >.>
  - toomuchtodo 13y ago
    This gets you close with Amazon: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3984254/send-users-to-a-pre-filled-amazon-cart-checkout http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3984254/send-users-to-a-p...
    - opendais 13y ago
      Thank you :) It is close enough to the goal I might just tinker with it this weekend.
      - toomuchtodo 13y ago
        Please keep me updated! My email is in my profile.
- hershel 13y ago
  Does buying groceries online in the UK is cheaper than buying them offline?
  - bananas 13y ago
    Yes. I spent £130 the other day on Ocado. The equivalent would cost £168 in store in Tesco. Delivery is free if you pick a sensible slot.

toomuchtodo 13y ago

> We should be keeping the machines, not the other way around. Completely disagree. I want to build machines to "keep me", to provide for my wants and needs. Why is that wrong? And why the hell are we having software/robotics eat the world if this isn't what we want?

numlocked 13y ago
We started off hoping that customers could "set it and forget it". But it turns out, no matter how good your algorithms are, there's no accounting for in-laws visiting for a week and using twice as much toilet paper. So instead we're focused on dramatically lowering the cognitive overhead of purchasing these products online. We do that through a combination of suggestions/recommendations, curated product selection, and a very different take on ecommerce UX.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

secstate 13y ago
Um. I do grow my own food. Not all of it granted, but a little household planning makes my wife's trips to the store pretty efficient. The rest comes from the garden, which we've had no problem managing ourselves without a database telling us when the carrots should be coming ready. There was a great article in Wired a while ago about how the Amish have been misunderstood as being luddites for a long time. Rather, they make as much of an informed decision about how much technology they let into their culture as possible so as to disrupt the positive aspects of their society as little as possible. That's not to say their experiment is perfect or a model for everyone else, but there is something to be said for taking a measured approach to introducing new tech and data to our lives. As one example, learning to keep track of how long you've been using your current toothbrush can seem boring and un-useful, but it's those little skills that you teach your children that help them manage other, more socially-important, aspects of their lives. Sure, the adults in the house can get a leg up on keeping track of household items, but imagine for a moment a child growing up in a world where big data tracks their needs and things magically arrive when they need them. Suddenly we must be much, much more focused and intentional about teaching them basic management skills, rather than having them taught organically via their everyday experiences.
- opendais 13y ago
  Ya, I deleted that comment when I realized I had made a mistake in my reasoning about a couple things. I don't agree with everything you are saying but I can see where my worldview wouldn't work for some people. [Not-a-parent; No interest in growing/building my own things outside certain areas of interest] Unfortunately it slipped in the gap so someone could reply :/

hoopism 13y ago

Without commenting on this specific services (maybe it is this or maybe it's not) I HATE the monthly curated business model. It can't go away fast enough.