Grocery shopping is an experience that almost everyone is well acquainted with. However, the experience of grocery shopping hasn’t really changed much in the past 20 years. We all know some have tried. I’m looking at you, Webvan. Still, we have witnessed huge advancements in logistics with Amazon and on-demand rideshare services including Uber and Lyft. It seems natural that there will be an on-demand delivery service for grocery shopping. Enter Instacart.
I started using Instacart while working at a startup in San Francisco. My office manager came in with a light blue bag filled with groceries. “Instacart” was printed on the side of the reusable tote. I was immediately intrigued.
Instacart is a lot like the Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service, I learned from my coworker, except all the groceries from Instacart are sourced from local supermarkets in a given metro area. The other main difference is time: groceries are delivered usually only one to two hours – depending on shopper’s choice. Amazon Fresh offers same-day delivery, but an order placed at 10 a.m. will usually arrive around dinner time.
With Instacart, you can also schedule a delivery window for a specified time in the immediate future. The groceries are delivered, usually via car, to an address you specify in a reusable bag tote which you can keep and use as you wish.
Taking the bus home that afternoon, I couldn’t stop thinking about giving it a try. The next day I signed up for Instacart and tried out my first delivery – which they offer for free. It was a simple order for chips and salsa which I scheduled for that evening at home. The application was fairly easy to install and register for. The delivery was received within the schedule window. I greeted my grocery shopper at my apartment door and tipped via the application upon checkout. The chips and salsa were delicious, by the way.
I found the price points for deliveries to be fairly reasonable: $3.99 for two-hour delivery, $5.99 for one hour, depending on the total cost of your order. There is even an option to subscribe to a yearly membership for those who will expect deliveries regularly, as well as perks for their two-hour delivery window. It turned out that my coworker subscribed to the delivery membership since she ordered from Instacart to stock the office fridge regularly.
One weekend I was planning on entertaining guests for a get-together. I scheduled a huge, eclectic list of items for purchase for a specific delivery window because I had very little time to make it to the store myself. Given the long, unconventional work hours of a startup, Instacart fit perfectly in my schedule.
Instacart has also built a consistent experience for customers. No surprise fees or delays. That, for me, is worth the delivery price and personal shopper tip. For reference, my second shopping list consisted of: Milk, eggs, carrots, green onions, celery, cilantro, olive oil, cayenne pepper, a bottle of Merlot, and brie cheese. It filled up four bags.
Instacart met my needs as a professional in the startup world for home and office deliveries. I can easily see it benefiting a busy parent, too. It saves time and the shoppers only buy things on the list – that means no impulse buys while you’re standing in the checkout line.
It’s easy to say that Instacart is just a convenient delivery service for groceries – it certainly is.
But it also has quite the impact on personal opportunity costs. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics‘ 2013 American Time Use Survey, “(The) average time spent purchasing consumer goods” ranged from a little as 18 minutes to as much as 70 minutes on a given day. According to the Food Marketing Institute, the “average number of trips per week consumers make to the supermarket” is 1.6 trips. If you combine these two stats we have average consumer purchasing times ranging from 28 minutes a week to as many as 112 minutes per week.
Consider the time spent commuting, in traffic, parking, finding what you are looking for at the store (or not), and standing in the checkout line. That is time spent on sub-tasks coupled with your grocery shopping experience. Consider what else you could be doing with that time: spending time with family and friends, working on a hobby, exercising, or even relaxing on the couch. There are so many tasks and activities to do in one day. Grocery shopping can be one of them, but not all the time. I’d rather spend my time pursuing other activities versus a grocery shopping experience that has a known result.
While I lived in San Francisco, I chose Instacart over a franchise supermarket that was within 150 feet of my apartment door – not because of my laziness – but because it affordably freed up time for other activities. Living in San Antonio, there is not one grocery shopping chain within one mile of my apartment complex.
There is an existing grocery delivery service in San Antonio called G-Runners, which you can read about from the owner in a Rivard Report story here. The service also organizes care packages for men and women serving in the U.S. Military.
There’s also Greenling, which delivers local and organic groceries from area farms.
It could be said that the premium price for an on-demand delivery service is too high. That argument is fair. However, Instacart offers national brand items at below-supermarket rates (Instacart Plus), strengthening its fit for the budget-conscious shopper. Instacart offers a streamlined experience for shopping for what you want or need, thus saving you time and money. Both features are aimed at easing consumer bottom lines as well as alleviating those with tight schedules.
Recently, I received a survey from Instacart about their interest in launching in San Antonio. I quickly filled out the survey and reached out to Instacart telling them how much I appreciate their consideration to launch in San Antonio and how much I’ve used Instacart in the past. If it isn’t obvious, I am a huge promoter of the service. Founded in 2012, Instacart has launched in many metro areas across the United States, including Austin and Houston. I believe San Antonio is ready for a service like Instacart. We’re ready for an alternative grocery shopping experience. I look forward to the new possibilities for a city on the rise.
*Featured/top image: Order confirmation and sample dinner graphic courtesy of Instacart’s Instagram.
Related stories:
Grocery Runners Deliver Satisfaction Locally and Globally
Sweetest Delivery in Town: Cookie Cab
TEDx Salon: The Food Movement and Accessibility
Bunmi this made me think of your project
We have this with Greenling and Burpy already… My advice? If you’re going to enter a crowded marketplace, make sure to offer something the other guys don’t.
Thanks for the article Andrew. I hope San Antonio is selected for a launch. I’ve looked at other available services, but I really can’t wait 24 hours for delivery.
I guess the concept for those willing to try/utilize the grocery delivery concept is fine. And I am sure it will come in handy for those who may have limited mobility issue(s) or find the concept of grocery delivery to be of use to their daily lives.
I for one…will stick to my drop-in to the grocery store to make my purchases. From my experience…I sometimes find that prices advertised on the shelf tags doesn’t necessarily ring-up the same at the cash register upon checking out. So I have to inform the cashier that there is a price difference? The cashier either has to stop the ringing-up of my grocery/sundry item purchases and either go see what is the price on the shelf tag. Or, send someone to check the price for them (as in a grocery bagger/runner) and see what is the actual advertised price of the item. And in the meanwhile I am holding up the line. Or need to leave the store, ASAP…
In some cases…the cashier will give me the benefit of the doubt and ring-up what I stated (based upon the sticker price I claim to have seen for the item) especially if it may be a few pennies off? Or, I mention that the item is a sale price item. As in the HEB yellow sticker price. It would be nice if HEB and other places I shop at had a better system of this. I have been told by the HEB cashiers that supposedly the store has people whose task are to make certain the prices on the shelf should match those of what the item rings-up for. So I am going to guess that a grocery delivery concept may not pick-up on price discrepancy for items in question. If they do? Then more power to them and their concept. But for my own grocery purchase disposition I opt to run to the store myself.
Especially, when I make bulk purchases at either Sprouts/Whole Foods. I have a certain method that I utilize when I sack bulk items, especially if the item(s) I sack may pose a risk to tearing up the plastic bags that are offered.
Besides at times H.E.B. offers a discount rack, usually located at some out of the way place not easily visible that offers great discounts on items that they maybe discontinuing or are being phased out of their merchandise line-up.
So getting back to this article about grocery delivery. I am sure it is a good concept for those who see it being a handy valet service. And a positive small business concept like this will more than likely benefit the small business community and the local economy.
Yet, I will stick to my visits to the store. Especially, nowadays when I have to travel outside of my downtown residential area to make grocery purchases. I try to incorporate other errands along the way. Therefore, it is frugal for me.
Nathan it’s time!
Survey filled out and shared! thanks for sharing Andrew!
Greenling and Burpy have prices that are not affordable for me, so I’m looking for a reliable service that will shop at HEB and deliver the groceries for a reasonable fee. And will also take the time to pick quality produce, as opposed to grabbing poor quality stuff that’s overripe and should have been thrown out days before. So I’m definitely looking forward to trying Instacart.