Postmates promises to deliver groceries within 30 minutes with new on-demand grocery service

Photo: Postmates Fresh

Postmates is launching a new on-demand grocery service called Postmates Fresh. With the new service, the San Francisco-based logistics and delivery start-up promises to deliver groceries to customers within 30 minutes, a shorter time compared to the two to three hour delivery time that competitors AmazonFresh and Instacart offer. 

 "Our first-ever grocery product launched today in Manhattan, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The launch of Fresh— a new category that curates high quality groceries and ingredients, is rolling out the same day as our brand new app design. This means customers can now get pesto, paper towels, LaCroix, Halo Top, Kombucha, free range chicken, prosciutto, salmon filet, organic apples, avocados — and pretty much all the essentials they need, in minutes."

The service is initially being rolled out in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, where the company is teaming up with local independent stores East Village Farm, Urband Radish, and Farmstead respectively.

The cost of the service is $3.99 per order or $9.99 a month while AmazonFresh costs $279 and Instacart charges $5.99 to $7.99 for each delivery, plus a service fee.  While Postmates' delivery fees are cheaper than competitors, its selections are limited with its current offerings coming in at 250 items including meat, vegetables, dairy, desserts, and alcohol.  It's expected that more items will be added over the upcoming months. 

Along with the new service, the company redesigned its app for iOs and Android. The app now features a new collections view and scheduled deliveries. Product lead David Byttow says the app's redesign and new features are the foundation to “a complete bunch of items we’re going to be launching and bringing within the coming weeks.”

For more on Postmates Fresh, read the company's blog post. 

SOURCE: Tech Crunch