Ever wanted your own personal shopper? It could be closer than you think.
Some of you will have heard of Uber. It’s the revolutionary way of moving people – and it’s changed the taxi industry for better or for worse, forever. Recently, Uber has been in the news in India and has been banned there. But this story isn’t about Uber. It’s about Instacart – a business that has been described as the Uber of the grocery industry. Using a similar principle to Uber’s model, Instacart has launched in the USA (well, that happened awhile ago to be fair) and is now available across most of the USA. It is also growing VERY fast. How fast? Well, it just raised over US$100 million in a round of VC funding to ensure it goes as fast as possible!
So what’s the deal? Basically, it involves integrating all the local grocery stores and adding a home delivery service. You login, select the store you want to order from, buy your groceries, and they deliver it. Big deal, New World and Countown already do this…..yeah, but Instacart promise delivery within an hour (hence the name). Yep, friends decide to come over unexpectedly for dinner, nothing in the fridge and you need to put on your face? Problem solved. Instacart will have everything you need, to your door, in an hour or less (via a vetted personal shopper).
It hasn’t made it to New Zealand yet, but given $100 million in funding, I’m sure the Aussies will have it soon enough and then us. It’s spreading so fast, that online retail giant Amazon.com have recently launched a competitive service (AmazonFresh).
It’s coming, be ready to have your favourite Nosh order delivered in under an hour! Want to find out more? Click this link to visit Instacart’s website. I suggest you put in a US postcode (like 90210) to see what its all about.