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

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

#131

Post by mikeklaas »

octernion wrote: post #74
colmvp wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose OP's point wasn't that a service fee wasn't justifiable, just that it's a bit odd to make it optional and have it auto-selected, though given someone else's comment it seems like now it's mandatory.

i know there has been a lot of changes with that recently -- i agree also that is odd. there are a ton of legal nuances here that i do not want to get into, but suffice to say we want to be clear and transparent to customers while at the same time providing a compelling wage to all the folks who touch your order during any part of the lifecycle.

It is really hard to believe that instacart wants to be clear and transparent as possible (although I'm sure you do, personally).

If "service fee" was renamed "instacart fee", people would no longer assume it is the driver's tip. But instacart would never do that, would they?

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

#132

Post by free2rhyme214 »

Instacart's biggest issue is not knowing real-time inventory. Amazon will never have this issue, because they just bought Whole Foods. Instacart, on the other hand, relies on crowdsourced shopper data to manage this.

The results is basically a hit and miss experience. My guess is they hope to get this inventory data direct from the stores one day, but who knows if they will.

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

#133

Post by gehwartzen »

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…

>I clicked on it to see what it was and it said “this $10 charge is optional and helps us keep running instacart”.

I have never used Instacart but it boggles my mind that such an option would exist. It's the sort of thing I might expect to be asked entering a museum or a non-profit community health clinic but why on earth would anyone feel inclined to pay extra to fund a for profit private company beyond any required charges?

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

#134

Post by gehwartzen »

octernion wrote: post #96
Pyxl101 wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you responding to the same screenshot that tfehring is commenting on? https://imgur.com/a/j47ls It says: > "A mark-up is added to item prices at this retailer to cover the cost of the Instacart service. Prices are based on data collected in store and are subject to delays and errors." There is no good, ethical reason why a delivery service should show me an item price that's different from what's in the store. It…

as i have noted elsewhere in the thread, that is a message -- from the retailer -- that the prices are different from in-store (and again, online pricing is their prerogative). instacart is not marking anything up. edit: it seems clear that we can do better in terms of communicating this, so i've passed that feedback on to the team.

Why is it that grocery stores charge an Instacart shopper more than a regular customer? What extra work does the store have to do for the Instacart shopper that they wouldn't for a regular shopper?

Intuitively it seems like the store should be more incentivized to offer lower prices to Instacart since they provide a steady stream of business, reliable payment, etc.

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

#135

Post by gehwartzen »

kayhi wrote: post #86
octernion wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

My concern is the price of getting the product at the store verse instacart delivering it. If you can get a discount directly from the store, great! You are providing value to them.

I agree. There are really only three things I can imagine caring about:

1) Receiving the exact items I ordered. 2) The time it takes to show up at my door. 3) The total price beyond what it would cost me in the store.

I know what I pay at the store, I know the value of my time, and I know the cost of driving my car. All I need from Instacart is the total cost for the service presented as simply as possible.

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

#136

Post by cryptoz »

lazerpants wrote: post #90
cryptoz wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 2) Economic downturn: Will people still order groceries at a premium? I'm not sure about the data and large trends for this, but here's my anecdote: Right now Instacart is the cheapest way for me to get groceries. Someone with a gun took my driver's license from me a few months ago, my bike was dismantled by thiefs, and I don't live within walking distance of a grocery store. Lyft/Uber there and back is $20. Bus th…

>Someone with a gun took my driver's license from me a few months ago Unless this person was a police officer, and you're glossing over a lot of the story, you can obtain a new one at your local DMV and resume operation of motor vehicles...

> you can obtain a new one at your local DMV and resume operation of motor vehicles...

No, my driver's license was from another country. It would have required either thousands of dollars to replace or re-taking the test in the US. Neither options has been something I can do just yet. I'll take the US test soon.

If you're going to victim-shame and tell me, > that's not exactly such as simple thing to do and would be seriously rude.

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

#137

Post by silencio »

anonfunction wrote: post #107
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…

A few more things instacart does that really bother me: 1. The time slot changes as soon as you click checkout, what I mean is while browsing I'll always see "Available Within 1 hour" then when it actually is time to checkout that option is gone. It happens virtually every time and I've never seen it happen the other way around or happen while shopping and refreshing or going back and forth between shopping and check…

Instacart not supporting their contractors - well, I guess they're still contractors, I don't know what happened to wanting to switch them to employees - is my biggest gripe.

While I was pregnant and stuck at home, I received a bunch of my roommate's 1-2x weekly Instacart deliveries. Without fail the majority of Instacart drivers tried to refuse to go up our one flight of stairs with 1-2 grocery bags. One cursed me out while bringing the bags upstairs. Some left the bags next to the gate. Mostly only women would bring it up without complaining, "you're sooo biiig giiirl go put your feet up!" And then fuck me, we misunderstood the $$$ Instacart fee as a tip so the people doing their jobs didn't get tipped :(

This is omitting the stupid shopping mistakes like 1 leek instead of 1 pound of leeks, and the amazing chat session I had with one shopper that asked me where to find something I'm buying for the first time, at a store I've never been to.

I have never had this problem with Good Eggs, never had this problem with Prime Now, only had it once or twice with Postmates and Caviar. Something's not being incentivized correctly over at Instacart.

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

#138

Post by Density »

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 appreciate you as an engineer, and to weigh in against an Amazon troll, but like please keep hn neutral

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

#139

Post by bm1362 »

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…

There are a subset of users on HN that can be hyperbolic. I've worked at a few well known companies and every time they come up here you get some vocal minority outraged about the product/pricing/culture/tech/anecdotal experience etc. I think it's truly toxic (yet entertaining) and definitely deflating as an employee. There is a lack of empathy for other people, companies and a deep inability to disconnect the two. I've noticed a hyper-rationalism here that reduces every company and product into the sum of it's parts and deems it outrageous- which to me comes across as unhealthy (reminds me of going to lunch with an engineering team that optimizes the route, their orders, seating, etc).

Congrats on the raise and good luck with everything.

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

#140

Post by clay_the_ripper »

paulcole wrote: post #39
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…

> Plus they mark up everything you buy, and obfuscate this so it’s impossible to really know how much extra instacart is skimming off the top. Do you ask Whole Foods what they pay for bananas? Do you care what the markup is at Walmart? Who cares how much InstaCart is charging. If you're pinching pennies, InstaCart isn't a service for you.

I’m not against companies making money. Instacart should be compensated for the service they provide. So just tell me “this delivery costs x dollars” or show me the percentage you’re charging me for the order “10% of total” so I can make an informed decision about how much I’m paying to have my groceries delivered. Instead they hide the true cost of the service that I’m paying for. I have no idea if I just paid $10 or $50 extra vs going to the store myself. Really this is the least of my complaints. If the service worked well (ie actually told me what was in stock/out of stock instead Of replacing items with a bunch of stuff I don’t want) I would have a lot less of a problem paying a little extra.
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