Whole Foods Trying One-Hour Delivery

The Whole Foods grocery chain is trialing a one-hour mobile delivery program, where shoppers place their orders on a smartphone, in 15 cities in the U.S..

The trial, done with vendor Instacart, is being offered in Atlanta; Austin; Boston; Boulder; Chicago; Denver; Houston; Los Angeles; New York City; Philadelphia; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; San Jose; Seattle and Washington, DC. The trial is only being offered in major cities, which sidesteps the challenges of profitably delivering this kind of quick service in a rural or suburban community.

The best part, though, is a humorous commercial the two companies released describing the service. (Stay with it at least until you get to the inebriated grandmothers part.)

“Instacart makes it extremely easy for our customers to buy Whole Foods Market products from fifteen cities and have them quickly delivered—whether buying fresh ingredients for dinner tonight or sending healthy foods to loved ones in another city,” said Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market. “We are thrilled to add this additional convenience for our customers.”

The companies described the process: “By ordering at Instacart.com or via the Instacart mobile app, Whole Foods Market customers simply select their zip code, add items to a virtual cart, and then choose a delivery window (within one hour, within two hours, or at a scheduled time) and check out. Instacart Personal Shoppers accept and confirm incoming orders on their smartphones, shop for the items at Whole Foods Market stores, and then deliver orders to customers in the designated delivery timeframe.”