The only thing worse than the actual cost of groceries is the the journey back and forth to the store. Well, one company has the solution to that.
Instacart, a San Francisco-based grocery delivery service, announced today that it has expanded to Boston.
“This winter, snowed-in Bostonians can call us when they need groceries instead of digging out their cars or trudging to the T,” Instacart founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta said in a statement. “We’re really excited to bring our service to Boston.”
Starting today, customers can order groceries from Shaw’s and have them delivered by an Instacart Personal Shopper within an hour, according to a press release. Additional stores will be added in the coming weeks – which will allow customers to combine items from different stores into one purchase.
Instacart launched in San Francisco and later expanded to Chicago. This recent foray into the Boston market stems, in part, from the City’s tech-savvy residents working until all hours of the night, and the weather, of course.
“We’ve learned in our other markets that precipitation is good for business,” Mehta said.
Instacart does not affiliate itself with particular stores. Instead, the grocery service lets its crowdsourced labor force, “Personal Shoppers,” shop for customers, who, with their own vehicles, deliver orders in as little as an hour.
This service is different than, say, Peapod, another online grocery delivery service operating in Massachusetts. Instacart cuts out the need the middlemen – warehouses and trucks – while Peapod customers are limited to items – provided by partnering supermarkets – stocked in company delivery trucks.
Becoming a customer is simple: Just sign up online, choose a city and store, fill out a list of items, and select a delivery window (within one, two, or however many hours). After that, click checkout and BOOM! Grocery shopping completed.
Orders are sent to a Personal Shopper’s app to walk him or her through the process.
One-hour delivery costs $14.99. But the more popular two-hour window costs just $3.99. Grocery orders must be a minimum of $10. However, Instacart is offering free delivery to first-time purchases of $35 or more.
Instacart will serve Boston’s Back Bay; Beacon Hill/West End; the Financial District; the Theatre District; the North End; Kenmore/Fenway; Allston/Brighton; the Seaport; the South End; and South Boston. Neighboring cities, Cambridge, Charlestown and Somerville can also use Instacart.
Here’s an additional bit of information: Fort Point’s 315 on A will offer tenants grocery delivery services, but failed to specify a partner during my tour in late November. A 315 representative was not immediately available for comment when I reached out earlier to see if Instacart was the luxury unit’s partner of choice.
It would make sense, though, if I say so myself. After all, Shaw’s operated Star Market is poised to occupy TD Garden, just a few miles down the road.
