[HorizonXP]

Congrats to the team on securing funding! Can't wait to see you guys expand!

Personally, I use Instacart every week to buy all of my groceries. I live in Palo Alto, and don't own a car. With Instacart, that's easy, since I don't have to worry about going to the grocery store, and lugging groceries back and forth in a car. So while it may be more expensive to use Instacart, my reduced burn-rate of not having to own and maintain a vehicle makes it a net cost-savings.

[tehwebguy]

Sounds awesome but doesn't that require the assumption that you would only ever use a car as a grocery transporter?

[HorizonXP]

Sure, but it removes that reason for having a car too. In my life, cars are usually used for: a) Commuting b) Transportation of goods c) Travelling (i.e. entertainment)

Generally, that order reflects what I use a car most for (i.e. Most of the time, my car is for commuting.)

Instacart helps remove the need for transporting goods. Amazon helps remove the rest. And I work at a location that makes commuting via bicycle + public transportation extremely easy.

So I don't need a car to commute or to transport goods. So for the few times that I need a car for entertainment, it doesn't make sense to own one. It makes more sense to rent a car from a local Hertz, or to use ZipCar for those one-off situations.

So Instacart is part of the solution, it isn't the entire solution.

[apendleton]

As a fellow urban non-car-owner, groceries or other situations where I need to lug a bunch of stuff are the only remaining obvious situation for me where car ownership offers clear advantages over a bike, transit, or Uber. So to your question, yes, but I don't think that's an unreasonable assumption for a lot of city-dwellers.

[michaelt]

How much is the service/delivery charge?

[HorizonXP]

I honestly can't remember, since I'm on Instacart Express, and I get free deliveries above a certain dollar amount, I think $35.

[zem]

that's fairly irrelevant, i think, since most of the cost comes from the per-item markups.

[michaelt]

Oh, there's a per-item markup as well? How big is that?

[HorizonXP]

You can look at Safeway/Trader Joe/Whole Foods prices and compare it to Instacart's to figure that out. That being said, do you ask Safeway/Trader Joe's/Whole Foods what their markup is? The only reason you care is because it's not completely hidden from you.

[smackfu]

OTOH, Peapod does grocery delivery around here and just uses the local Stop & Shop's prices, including their weekly specials. I like it since I trust that a major chain will have competitive prices.

[zem]

that's a very good point.