Grocery Delivery Service ‘Instacart’ Comes to Portland

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Thursday, September 04, 2014

Kirsten Nicolaisen, GoLocalPDX Digital Producer

Instacart launched in Portland Aug. 26. It's an online grocery delivery service for people who are "too busy" or "just lazy." 

Portland is the 13th major city in Instacart's network and is part of the company’s planned expansion to 17 major cities throughout the U.S. by the end of the year. 

Customers can order and pay for groceries from a variety of stores online and have those groceries delivered. The company said grocery delivery takes no more than an hour, and refunds are provided if an item is out of stock. 

The company's city launcher, Doug Guan, said Instacart serves a wide range of people who either can't or don't want to shop for groceries.

"Instacart is really good for people who are really busy and don't have time to shop, moms with kids, people who don't have cars, or people who are just lazy," Guan said. 

Personal shoppers are hired and screened by Instacart and provide their own transportation. 

Portland customers can order from Whole Foods Market, Costco (you do not need to be a member), and Uwajimaya Asian Market. Customers can combine items from multiple stores into one order, and more local grocery stores will be added in the coming weeks, according to Instacart. 

Portland had the highest number of user requests for Instacart of any major U.S. city not already served by the company, said city launcher Bill Babeaux. 

"We knew people wanted the service here," Babeaux said. "We're excited to bring the city its first one-hour grocery delivery service and help residents enjoy the beautiful summer weather instead of waiting in line at the grocery store."

Customers can open an account at www.Instacart.com, and get free delivery on their first order of $10 or more.

 

Homepage photo credit: Gayle Nicholson on Flickr, under CC license. (Image cropped)

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