Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft • Hacker News Board

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#61

Post by imroot » Fri, Jun 03, 2016, 1:42 PM UTC

eli wrote: post #18

nebulous1 wrote: post #12

I'm torn between wanting somebody to compete with Amazon and it being Walmart

Also Instacart and Google Express and Peapod.

My issues with Instacart is that not every shopper knows how to shop for produce.

I order avocados from instacart: They're all black on the inside when I cut into them.

I order specialty chips or cheeses? They're marked as "Item out of stock," but when I run to the same grocery store that they shopped at after my delivery it's right there in plain sight to me.

I order deli meat from Instacart? They ignore my comments about how I would like it to be sliced and deliver it to me shredded.

Outside of that? I love instacart -- as long as they're packaged goods (pick and ship) and they're not hot deli items or cold/frozen items (I've had drivers put yogurt in the same bag as a lot of frozen veggies and peas and stuff that shouldn't have been frozen was frozen.)

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#62

Post by ghaff » Fri, Jun 03, 2016, 1:46 PM UTC

dvcc wrote: post #54

bluedino wrote: post #50

I would pay a small premium for a 'pick up at store' service like I can at some retailers. Buy the item online, go to the store, go to the customer service counter and pickup the your purchases. Imagine just going to the grocery store drive-through and picking up your groceries that you've chosen beforehand.

I am not sure where you live but this is pretty common in the north east (ShopRite etc.). To me though, I feel like there are misaligned incentives when employees pick food vs. the customer picks the food. Why should the employee care if the bread is going bad tomorrow instead of a week? The added time-savings just don't offset that concern for me.

I can't say that concerns with expiration dates are high on my list of issues when I'm grocery shopping. That said, if I'm going to order online anyway, I'm not sure why I wouldn't just have it delivered--maybe for a few bucks more--than driving to the store. Maybe if I'm not very mobile but can still drive, but then I still need to unload the car. I don't really understand the use case.

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#63

Post by mfenniak » Fri, Jun 03, 2016, 1:47 PM UTC

KJKingJ wrote: post #55

wiremine wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the ordering experience like? Do you have a set order that comes on a regular basis? Or are they one-off orders, or a mix?

Mine are always one off orders. I'll log on, choose an hourly timeslot for delivery and then browse down a list of products i've purchased before (both online and instore) and chose which ones I want to be delivered. It takes about 10-15 minutes to do and they will deliver everything right to my door. It ends up being a huge timesaver compared to having to go to and from the supermarket and pick everything out. I ten…

I feel like a "mini-supermarket" is just a market; the super and mini should cancel each other out. :-)

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#64

Post by arebop » Fri, Jun 03, 2016, 1:49 PM UTC

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #44

Isn't this a bit going the wrong way somehow? Growing up, mom went grocery shopping once every 2 weeks. We'd load up 2 or 3 shopping carts that filled 8 or 10 grocery bags. One auto trip every 2 weeks for groceries. With all the delivery services for restaurants, groceries, and more and more sundries, the trips to my house are made for less and less 'stuff' per trip. More trips per household obviously means more gaso…

I think it is going the wrong way temporarily. I expect the vast proliferation of delivery startups will consolidate so that it will just be ups/fedex/uber/? each stopping at 1/6 the residences twice a day. It will still be fewer miles driven per item than in the days when each household made point to point round-trips for everything.

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#65

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jun 03, 2016, 1:52 PM UTC

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #60

agmcleod wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you guys keep vegetables fresh for 2 weeks? That's usually why i go a couple times a week. Usually buy a pack of meat to have for a few nights of dinner, vegetables to use as well. Then get more once it's used up.

There was a time when canned and frozen vegetables were more common than fresh. I can't eat them today, but that's what we ate growing up.

[deleted]

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#66

Post by tomkinstinch » Fri, Jun 03, 2016, 1:55 PM UTC

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #60

agmcleod wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you guys keep vegetables fresh for 2 weeks? That's usually why i go a couple times a week. Usually buy a pack of meat to have for a few nights of dinner, vegetables to use as well. Then get more once it's used up.

There was a time when canned and frozen vegetables were more common than fresh. I can't eat them today, but that's what we ate growing up.

There's actually an argument to be made that some frozen or canned vegetables have higher nutrient content than the equivalent "fresh" vegetables at the grocery store, since the frozen ones are harvested closer to peak readiness and packed proximal to farms, versus the "fresh" veggies which may be harvested well in advance of when they're ready to give them adequate time for long transit to stores and a reasonable duration of shelf stability. I believe this is the case for tomatoes—not sure which other crops.

Unless you've grown them yourself, canned tomatoes will generally make a tastier pasta sauce than their fresh counterparts.

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#67

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jun 03, 2016, 1:55 PM UTC

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #60

agmcleod wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you guys keep vegetables fresh for 2 weeks? That's usually why i go a couple times a week. Usually buy a pack of meat to have for a few nights of dinner, vegetables to use as well. Then get more once it's used up.

There was a time when canned and frozen vegetables were more common than fresh. I can't eat them today, but that's what we ate growing up.

[deleted]

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#68

Post by mmilano » Fri, Jun 03, 2016, 1:57 PM UTC

I can't say I'd want my family's food traveling in a car used to haul the public around when it's not delivering food.

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#69

Post by bryanlarsen » Fri, Jun 03, 2016, 2:01 PM UTC

KJKingJ wrote: post #55

wiremine wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the ordering experience like? Do you have a set order that comes on a regular basis? Or are they one-off orders, or a mix?

Mine are always one off orders. I'll log on, choose an hourly timeslot for delivery and then browse down a list of products i've purchased before (both online and instore) and chose which ones I want to be delivered. It takes about 10-15 minutes to do and they will deliver everything right to my door. It ends up being a huge timesaver compared to having to go to and from the supermarket and pick everything out. I ten…

My stores would get a lot more of my business if they had better interfaces. I can pop over to the grocers, buy $200-$300 worth of grocers and be home in about half an hour. Using their website takes just about as long and then I have to wait a few hours for delivery.

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#70

Post by mankyd » Fri, Jun 03, 2016, 2:01 PM UTC

martin-adams wrote: post #57

Justin King (former CEO of Sainsburys in the UK) said that their data showed that people start ordering groceries for home delivery is when they start a family. After a few weeks, when (usually) the mother of the new baby is willing to venture out, she will visit the grocery store to buy extra things. Turns out that the spending level of online groceries doesn't drop, but the spending level of ad-hoc in-store purchas…

> people start ordering groceries for home delivery is when they start a family.

This certainly matches our experience. We've been using Google Express a ton to get the regular necessities that come with having children: diapers, cheerios, food for lunches, etc.

We have a grocery store within walking distance that we still visit regularly for produce, perishables, and the odd ingredients that dinner sometimes requires.