-- For the user, it's easier than ever to place an order. Internet connection speeds are fast, smartphones have snappy native apps, 3G is everywhere -- so you can order groceries on the ride home. You can quickly download 100 images of products on the bus ride home and pick the ones you want (for example).
-- For Instacart, processing those orders at scale is also easier than ever. EC2 instances are cheap and easily provisioned, payment processing is easier thanks to a bevy of services, and online use of credit cards doesn't have the riskiness and stigma associated with it in the 90s.
-- For the shopper going out to buy groceries, communication is easier than the 90s. With broadband and smartphones, they can send updates back to Instacart servers faster and have them processed automatically (as opposed to the 90s, where a cellphone call would have information transmitted by voice, which would have to be processed by a human). Smartphones alone enable a larger volume of information to be communicated back to Instacart, and have it be as simple as the shopper checking off items purchased or scratching off items not available.
-- For Instacart again, dynamic routing, inventory updates, and scheduling are much easier (in theory) because of the timely updates from shoppers, as well as the enormous amount of computing power available. Couple that with GPS tracking and you enable some sort of accountability for the shoppers, as well as a better customer experience for the user ("your shopper is 3 minutes away, on Van Ness...")
It's similar to how UPS revolutionized package shipping with point-by-point delivery updates.
That said, as a former Instacart patron, I feel Instacart has a long way to go before it's as entrenched as Amazon.
1. When did UPS revolutionize package shipping? 5 years ago, 10 years ago, or longer?
2. Couldn't someone who ran a delivery service (i.e. UPS, DHL, FedEx, etc) have been in place to do this sort of thing 10 years ago or even longer? I mean sure, it's easier and more accessible than ever now, but it doesn't look like a showstopper to me. The convenience of having someone else do your groceries for you is so convenient for most people. It's on the level of convenience of paying the neighbor's kid to mow your lawn.
Too many deliveries had missed or swapped items, and although customer service was always excellent, it got a little tiring. Also, my perception (although I never actually checked) is that prices were slightly higher than driving down 2 blocks to Safeway and using my loyalty card there.
What might bring me back is a cost incentive on repeated purchases, say by offering 10% off if I sign up for regular monthly deliveries of common household items.
-- For the user, it's easier than ever to place an order. Internet connection speeds are fast, smartphones have snappy native apps, 3G is everywhere -- so you can order groceries on the ride home. You can quickly download 100 images of products on the bus ride home and pick the ones you want (for example).
-- For Instacart, processing those orders at scale is also easier than ever. EC2 instances are cheap and easily provisioned, payment processing is easier thanks to a bevy of services, and online use of credit cards doesn't have the riskiness and stigma associated with it in the 90s.
-- For the shopper going out to buy groceries, communication is easier than the 90s. With broadband and smartphones, they can send updates back to Instacart servers faster and have them processed automatically (as opposed to the 90s, where a cellphone call would have information transmitted by voice, which would have to be processed by a human). Smartphones alone enable a larger volume of information to be communicated back to Instacart, and have it be as simple as the shopper checking off items purchased or scratching off items not available.
-- For Instacart again, dynamic routing, inventory updates, and scheduling are much easier (in theory) because of the timely updates from shoppers, as well as the enormous amount of computing power available. Couple that with GPS tracking and you enable some sort of accountability for the shoppers, as well as a better customer experience for the user ("your shopper is 3 minutes away, on Van Ness...")
It's similar to how UPS revolutionized package shipping with point-by-point delivery updates.
That said, as a former Instacart patron, I feel Instacart has a long way to go before it's as entrenched as Amazon.