Hot on the heels of its March 26 debut in New York, grocery delivery startup Instacart announced that it now offers its services in Los Angeles. Last week, the burgeoning startup added the City of Angels to its quickly growing list of locations, which already includes Boston, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Instacart works pretty much exactly how you’d expect a card-carrying grocery delivery startup to work. You start by simply visiting the Instacart site from a computer or mobile device, and then add items to your cart just like you would on any other ec0mmerce site. After you’ve selected all the stuff you want, you then choose a delivery time, specify the location at which the groceries should be delivered, and check out with a credit card. After you’ve placed an order, Instacart beams the information via smartphone to one of its personal shoppers, who then goes to the store, buys the groceries, and delivers the order at the arranged time.
Services like this definitely aren’t new. Companies like PeaPod and FreshDirect have been doing this for years, and even Amazon has its own take on the idea with its Prime Fresh service. What makes Instacart different is its straightforward pricing structure and speedy delivery times. The company offers free delivery for your first order of $35 or more, with flat fees of $3.99 (for two-hour delivery) or $14.99 (for one-hour delivery) thereafter. Alternatively, if you plan on using the service frequently, you can opt to pay a $99 annual membership fee, and delivery on all orders over $35.
At this point, LA-based customers (including those in Santa Monica, Venice, Marina del Rey, West L.A., Sawtelle, West Hollywood, Hollywood, Fairfax, Beverly Grove, and Mid-Wilshire) will only be able to choose from items available at Whole Foods, but Instacart plans to add more stores in the coming weeks so that shoppers can buy groceries from multiple stores in a single order.
Find out more here.
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