Instacart Introduces 30-Minute Delivery

We told you the other day about how 10-minute grocery delivery is coming to a few neighborhoods New York City, courtesy of the German company Gorillas. Now, not to be outdone, Instacart has announced 30-minute Priority Delivery in select markets in the U.S. and Canada.

Currently, TechCrunch explains, most Instacart customers use the service for their big weekly or monthly grocery orders, but when they're in a pinch, they still run out to the store. Instacart wants to be the grocery service for all situations. The company is still working out the pricing scheme for Priority Delivery, but TechCrunch reports that the fee will be "small" and "incremental" and dynamic, depending on time and availability of items. Smaller orders will be fulfilled more quickly than larger ones, and if Instacart can't fulfill an order in the 30-minute window, customers will be alerted before it's time to pay.

A launch date hasn't been set, but initially Priority Delivery will be available in 300 stores in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle, but Instacart promises it will offer the service in more cities soon; in the meantime, it will offer its 45- and 60-minute delivery option in more cities.

So far, Instacart is the first of the big grocery delivery services to offer 30-minute delivery. Amazon/Whole Foods offers delivery within two hours, while Shipt (owned by Target) promises same-day. UberEats and DoorDash offer quick delivery, but their partners are convenience stores. But I'm sure now that Instacart is doing it, the rest will follow.