Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation • Hacker News Board

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#61

Post by kayhi » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 7:35 PM UTC

octernion wrote: post #56

clay_the_ripper wrote: post #14

I have never had a good experience with instacart. I’ve ordered from them probably 10-15 times and every single time, without fail, they either forget an item or replace an item with another item that I don’t want. This makes the service unusable, because if I’m cooking dinner that night and want to order instacart, there’s a high likelyhood I’ll be missing something crucial for my recepie, meaning I’ll have to go to…

as an engineer at instacart, it's very disheartening for me to see the top-rated comment on HN is "I can’t wait for instacart to go out of business." even if we did not provide value to you (which i apologize for -- it is a priority of ours to improve the replacement experience in particular as it is very frustrating to customers), i am not sure why that implies that we do not provide a valuable service for others an…

Never used Instacart, but your link to show transparency, doesn't actually state what the mark up is.. 2%, 10%, 25%, order minimum or there's fee..

Transparency to me, would mean I place order and know how much it will cost, instacart mark up, service fees and if a tip is included.

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#62

Post by jpalmer » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 7:36 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #5

From an outsiders perspective this looks like a bad investment. But I'm an outsider, so I know I don't have all the information. I would love to get an insiders perspective on why this is a good investment. My two main concerns: 1) Amazon and Whole Foods: Are they not a concern? 2) Economic downturn: Will people still order groceries at a premium?

3) The grocery stores in my area (midwest) already provide this service at no additional markup and free delivery if you spend over $100.

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#63

Post by dangrossman » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 7:37 PM UTC

ssewell wrote: post #49

Androider wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exact same experience. Instacart shopper cannot find extremely common items and tries to replace them with 2-3x more expensive options. The whole model of the shopper walking the isles to pick the products is wrong. It's inefficient and a recipe for disappointment, because what you see on their web page is just a guess at what the store has and the shopper can find. I too have used Instacart probably 10 times, but ne…

Amazon Prime Now is already starting this ( https://goo.gl/fSF4DR ) in select markets. I used this last weekend and the delivery was perfect! You can opt to have an out-of-stock item either left off or replaced with a similar item. They will even send an SMS to request confirmation if they need to use a substitute product, giving you an opportunity to provide more feedback.

That's exactly how Instacart works as well. The shopper is able to call or text the customer to discuss substitutions.

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#64

Post by rmaus » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 7:39 PM UTC

octernion wrote: post #56

clay_the_ripper wrote: post #14

I have never had a good experience with instacart. I’ve ordered from them probably 10-15 times and every single time, without fail, they either forget an item or replace an item with another item that I don’t want. This makes the service unusable, because if I’m cooking dinner that night and want to order instacart, there’s a high likelyhood I’ll be missing something crucial for my recepie, meaning I’ll have to go to…

as an engineer at instacart, it's very disheartening for me to see the top-rated comment on HN is "I can’t wait for instacart to go out of business." even if we did not provide value to you (which i apologize for -- it is a priority of ours to improve the replacement experience in particular as it is very frustrating to customers), i am not sure why that implies that we do not provide a valuable service for others an…

I don't have stake in this one way or the other, but will you argue in favor of Instacart's '$10 service fee' (as mentioned by parent commenter)?

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#65

Post by roymurdock » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 7:45 PM UTC

gruez wrote: post #55

roymurdock wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume instacart has a liquidity event (IPO) lined up for the near future (next 12 months), and a few late stage and previous investors are laying down a cash runway to get the company there. Notably this round ($200m) was less than their last round 1 year ago ($400m) so it seems growth has slowed and its time for an exit. So its not a bet, its a holdover cash infusion until the IPO, and is not exactly risky given…

>I have yet to see anyone put forth and truly plausible triggers for another large global recession - there are no debt and enforcement chains I can see that would drag the system under again that's not an indication of anything. has there been anyone who were able to predict the last few recessions with reasonable accuracy?

ok, and yes there were a few traders and economists who did ("the big short" follows 3 of these traders' stories), but in order to trade you need to have a thesis for what and when to buy.

there are tons of gloom and doom traders and economists (usually trying to sell "safe" or alternative assets) but i have yet to read any clear, compelling cases laying out what and when to buy when the first domino falls that will set off the next recession. i'd be interested to read anything you've found noteworthy

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#66

Post by octernion » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 7:45 PM UTC

kayhi wrote: post #61

octernion wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

as an engineer at instacart, it's very disheartening for me to see the top-rated comment on HN is "I can’t wait for instacart to go out of business." even if we did not provide value to you (which i apologize for -- it is a priority of ours to improve the replacement experience in particular as it is very frustrating to customers), i am not sure why that implies that we do not provide a valuable service for others an…

Never used Instacart, but your link to show transparency, doesn't actually state what the mark up is.. 2%, 10%, 25%, order minimum or there's fee.. Transparency to me, would mean I place order and know how much it will cost, instacart mark up, service fees and if a tip is included.

we used to provide specific percentages, but phased that out over time as it was obvious that wasn't providing real value -- where on amazon.com do you see their markup?

additionally, for virtually all stores on instacart.com now, we are simply passing on the pricing that the retailer has given us (which may or not be marked up from their internal prices -- but we do not control)

edit: to be crystal clear, that means that you are getting exactly what you are asking for -- the prices are simply what the retailer sets (which may be marked up from in-store -- that's their prerogative), and then we show our fees on top of that on checkout. we aren't "hiding" anything, and it's your decision whether the fees are worth your time.

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#67

Post by deepuj » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 7:46 PM UTC

clay_the_ripper wrote: post #14

I have never had a good experience with instacart. I’ve ordered from them probably 10-15 times and every single time, without fail, they either forget an item or replace an item with another item that I don’t want. This makes the service unusable, because if I’m cooking dinner that night and want to order instacart, there’s a high likelyhood I’ll be missing something crucial for my recepie, meaning I’ll have to go to…

Similar experience here. Walmart is also terrible at this. Amazon Fresh/Prime Now is reliable 90% of the time. But I've had them cancel deliveries just 1 hour before scheduled time once. Would never trust any of these services for any important items. Not to mention the ridiculous markup on some items.

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#68

Post by octernion » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 7:48 PM UTC

rmaus wrote: post #64

octernion wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

as an engineer at instacart, it's very disheartening for me to see the top-rated comment on HN is "I can’t wait for instacart to go out of business." even if we did not provide value to you (which i apologize for -- it is a priority of ours to improve the replacement experience in particular as it is very frustrating to customers), i am not sure why that implies that we do not provide a valuable service for others an…

I don't have stake in this one way or the other, but will you argue in favor of Instacart's '$10 service fee' (as mentioned by parent commenter)?

i am not entirely sure what they mean by that. the service fee goes 100% towards the shopper fleet and is an essential part of a reasonable compensation structure for all of our shoppers -- if we switched entirely to tips, the folks that (e.g.) actually picked out your groceries, checked out & staged your groceries at the store, would not be compensated. this is because tips have to go 100% to one person, which would only be the delivery person -- and in our case, any one order is handled by many people to be efficient.

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#69

Post by spraak » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 7:51 PM UTC

clay_the_ripper wrote: post #14

I have never had a good experience with instacart. I’ve ordered from them probably 10-15 times and every single time, without fail, they either forget an item or replace an item with another item that I don’t want. This makes the service unusable, because if I’m cooking dinner that night and want to order instacart, there’s a high likelyhood I’ll be missing something crucial for my recepie, meaning I’ll have to go to…

Yeah, I've had the same experience with Instacart vs Amazon Prime Now

Re: Instacart has raised another $200M at a $4.2B valuation

#70

Post by petra » Mon, Feb 12, 2018, 7:57 PM UTC

octernion wrote: post #56

clay_the_ripper wrote: post #14

I have never had a good experience with instacart. I’ve ordered from them probably 10-15 times and every single time, without fail, they either forget an item or replace an item with another item that I don’t want. This makes the service unusable, because if I’m cooking dinner that night and want to order instacart, there’s a high likelyhood I’ll be missing something crucial for my recepie, meaning I’ll have to go to…

as an engineer at instacart, it's very disheartening for me to see the top-rated comment on HN is "I can’t wait for instacart to go out of business." even if we did not provide value to you (which i apologize for -- it is a priority of ours to improve the replacement experience in particular as it is very frustrating to customers), i am not sure why that implies that we do not provide a valuable service for others an…

>> why do you think that there can only be one victor here, and that is has to be amazon?

Historically, online businesses have 1/2 winners that "take all". That's assuming the winners could build a warehouse near each city. seems possible.

So the question who will be the one besides Amazon?

From one point of view. Walmart will likely win in the low-cost grocery pickup business. And on top of that they will do deliveries. The way Walmart will choose that delivery is: is it cheaper than delivery costs for Walmart(for chilled deliveries)? and can it scale ? . Does instacart fit ? it seems not.

So it's hard to see how instacart wins.