This is already very common in England, and a number of the major supermarkets offer delivery service (Tesco and Ocado/Waitrose are I believe the largest).
1.) The reason I get them delivered isn't necessarily that I'm too busy, just that pushing my way around a busy supermarket on Saturday afternoon is boring! Honestly, when we haven't done an online shop and end up having to go to the store I find myself wishing I could just "search" for items, like with the web/iPhone app.
2.) Ocado (the service I'm familiar with here) never chooses items near the expiry date, it's as simple as that. They must recognise that if people were consistently getting nearly-spoiled goods, they'd just stop using it. Products nearing their expiry date usually have their price reduced in their store, so it's not a problem shifting that stock.
3.) Agreed, Ocado lets you choose 1-hour slots and that's about the longest I'd want. Unless nearer the time they can be more specific based on the van's progress, e.g. send a text saying "we should be with you between 8.00 - 8.30".
Honestly, if I was building this service I'd be looking at someone like Ocado. For me, they've nailed the whole product (including awesome iPhone/iPad apps). If the InstaCart folks would like more info about them (guessing you can't use it outside of the UK?), let me know and I'd be happy to help.
1.) The reason I get them delivered isn't necessarily that I'm too busy, just that pushing my way around a busy supermarket on Saturday afternoon is boring! Honestly, when we haven't done an online shop and end up having to go to the store I find myself wishing I could just "search" for items, like with the web/iPhone app.
2.) Ocado (the service I'm familiar with here) never chooses items near the expiry date, it's as simple as that. They must recognise that if people were consistently getting nearly-spoiled goods, they'd just stop using it. Products nearing their expiry date usually have their price reduced in their store, so it's not a problem shifting that stock.
3.) Agreed, Ocado lets you choose 1-hour slots and that's about the longest I'd want. Unless nearer the time they can be more specific based on the van's progress, e.g. send a text saying "we should be with you between 8.00 - 8.30".
Honestly, if I was building this service I'd be looking at someone like Ocado. For me, they've nailed the whole product (including awesome iPhone/iPad apps). If the InstaCart folks would like more info about them (guessing you can't use it outside of the UK?), let me know and I'd be happy to help.