So who knows what Instacart is? If you don’t, then it’s a grocery delivery app and service. Late last year, they made a deal with major grocer Kroger’s and their sub-chain, Ralph’s. But recently, they made a deal that topped the previous one. Let’s look at this Instacart expansion.
Today, they announced Instacart will now open for up nearly half of all Kroger grocery stores. Basically, this means by November 2018, Instacart delivery will be available for over 1,600 Kroger stores. However, Kroger isn’t the only one benefiting from the Instacart expansion. Other chains like Sam’s Club and Albertsons also have Instacart deliver their groceries to customers.
They want to reach 80% of Americans by the end of 2018. They just might. Because as of now, they can reach 70% of the people. They’re getting plenty of backup too. In one month alone, they raised $200 million worth of capital. In fact, Instacart is now worth around $4 billion. Now let’s talk about the competition. Because there’s plenty of it. Amazon and Whole Foods have their own delivery services and apps. And they’re worth a combined $14 billion. Then you have Target. Obviously, there’s a clothing and accessories retail store. But they’re doing their own online delivery.
Then again, maybe such competition is a good thing. Grocers like Sam’s Club sees how Amazon is trying to turn the world into their own monopoly. Maybe that’s why Sam’s Club ran to Instacart’s arms. This is interesting because less and less people are going to grocery stores…well, traditionally. Now, they’re shopping for their foods and other supplies online. Then, they go pick them up or have a driver deliver them. So IT support and IT service even affects the way we grocery shop, something that people have done since the beginning of time. The grocery store app race is on. Who do you think will win?