“Clap On, Clap Off”
A wave of grocery delivery services has hit cities across the US in the past few years, including Amazon Fresh, Deliveer, and Peapod among many others. While the cost structures differ across companies, the underlying driver in this sector’s growth is undeniably our willingness to pay for convenience. In Los Angeles, for example, customers of Amazon Fresh pay a $299/year membership for free delivery of fresh produce and other products on orders of at least $35. Proponents of the service argue that they are willing to spend the money if it means less lines and more free time. The idea has gained enough popularity to drive Google to launch their own service, Shopping Express, which allows shoppers to buy things from local retail stores and have them delivered same or next day. Although currently only available in a few cities, Google announced last week that they intend to invest an additional $500 million to expand the service nationwide.