Business Insider reports that delivery service Instacart, concerned about competition against Amazon, “has quietly reduced the price of its annual Express membership and non-membership delivery fees … Customers now pay $99 a year rather than $149 for the Express membership, which offers free delivery on orders over $35. Non-Express delivery fee charges have been cut from $5.99 to $3.99.
“Instacart has also removed the 5% service fee for its Express members, a charge that caused much controversy among customers in the past.”
While Instacart works with hundreds of companies, one irony of the price cuts has been that in areas where Amazon-owned Whole Foods offers delivery from both Instacart and Amazon, Instacart now is a less expensive alternative.
Business Insider writes that “these price cuts address a key issue that shoppers have had — why would they pay more for an Instacart membership when an Amazon Prime membership not only costs less, but has more perks? By undercutting Amazon on price, Instacart may now become a more appealing option, at least for Whole Foods delivery.”
“Instacart has also removed the 5% service fee for its Express members, a charge that caused much controversy among customers in the past.”
While Instacart works with hundreds of companies, one irony of the price cuts has been that in areas where Amazon-owned Whole Foods offers delivery from both Instacart and Amazon, Instacart now is a less expensive alternative.
Business Insider writes that “these price cuts address a key issue that shoppers have had — why would they pay more for an Instacart membership when an Amazon Prime membership not only costs less, but has more perks? By undercutting Amazon on price, Instacart may now become a more appealing option, at least for Whole Foods delivery.”
- KC's View:
-
This is all part of Instacart’s IPO play, as it looks to generate enough customers and traffic to justify a high number when it gets sold or goes public. I’m a cynic on this one, so my guess it that this is not aimed at better customer service.
