Comment by conductr | Hacker News Reader

Comment by conductr | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

I've considered your shopping behavior points and feel like people may actually buy even more since it would be easier to browse the entire selection of SKUs so they would more likely do so each visit. Or, at least, see more of them than they would otherwise as I think most people don't traverse every aisle on each visit in the status quo setup. Stores know this now already and do things like put milk in the back since it's a frequent purchase and you'll buy more if you have to walk by more to get to it. A customer that just runs in for milk still is only seeing an aisle or two of product when they could walk by the majority of store's items on that same aisle if it was a condensed selection.

On the Home delivery point. You're right free home delivery and narrow margins don't mesh. Yet, I have FREE home delivery options at dozens of stores/grocers in my area. I've never seen what I'd call hefty fees for this service. It's usually in the $1-10 range. They really compete for customers with this option; in my area anyway. Also, they push curbside pickup really hard now and it's always free. I've never seen that have a fee, yet someone in the store is being paid to walk around and pick your order off the shelves. We're paying for it somehow and this trend really took off during the same time as inflation ratcheted up, so my guess is it's being baked into prices and every customer is sharing the cost. In any case, I don't see why the in store shopping process couldn't be improved while home delivery coexisted. They each have their place and each customer has their preferences. Using myself as an example again, I do like pickup when it helps the logistics of my day or if I know exactly what I need and maybe I know it's heavy and want to be lazy.

The major grocer where I live, H‑E‑B, marks up curbside items a few percent to defray costs. It’s very subtle.

> Yet, I have FREE home delivery options at dozens of stores/grocers in my area.

Are you sure those aren't introductory offers?

> I've never seen what I'd call hefty fees for this service. It's usually in the $1-10 range

Is it being fulfilled by the store or Instacart? I'm referencing Costco which can charge $1 to $3 _per item_ for delivery, unless you order more than $75 in total. Those orders are fulfilled by the warehouse and not a third party.

> They really compete for customers with this option

They might just be outsourcing it and your subsidy is actually the third party investors.

> Also, they push curbside pickup really hard now

What does that look like? It's free, as you say, so what is the incentive, exactly?

> They each have their place and each customer has their preferences.

Which works as long as the cost of each preference is equal. Typically, it is not, which is my point. So you can set your expectations for the "future of grocery" around that, at least, until it changes.

I think Costco type models specifically more than others is incented to discourage delivery. They also seem most mission oriented regarding not introducing new costs, even for convenience. In any case, I wasn't really saying thinking delivery itself needs to change but will say that I haven't ever shopped at a Costco and I've also never heard of anything near that cost per item for delivery. It seems silly to even go through the trouble of instating a delivery option if you just want to gouge people for using it. I seems counter to what I think of as Costco's brand (I have read alot of stuff about them from a business perspective and know a ton of people that love the place, it's kind of a cult following thing).

I'm sure the free offers will go away at some point, but it's been available since the pandemic shook things up and is available to all. It's not like a Prime program type thing or a first delivery free promo. I have friends/family that have been using it for years now and never paid a cent (directly to delivery). Most retailers around me have their own pickers. Most employ drivers too, but some use the gig services on the backend as an outsourced delivery (customer wouldn't know at time of order). Pretty much all of them have gotten away from Instcart services although customers can still utilize it if they want to directly. It tends to be expensive so most people I know only use it if they need something from store that doesn't offer delivery. It's pretty rare now I think, but was pretty common pre-pandemic.

Curbside incentive is for customer is convenience. I live in a car dominant city. I think a common scenario I hear of is; can shop on device from anywhere, while taking kids to soccer or whatever, then you just quickly pick it up on the way home (it takes usually less than 5 minutes for them to bring it out). Incentive for business is that this is just expected at this point so they don't want you to shop at the competitor because they do this.

I don't think the cost has to be equal. I do like transparency though and would rather know how much I am paying above in store pricing if they are charging differently across the various channels. I don't always feel like paying extra for what I perceive as minor conveniences, and sometimes the same minor convenience could turn into a major convenience depending on many other factors (if I'm running late to something, can't find the time to go into a store for 30 minutes, kids are being fussy, etc)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com