Costco debuts home delivery service

Yaron Steinbuch
March 21, 2017
New York Times

Getting your Costco fix will soon require a lot less schlepping.
The bulk retail giant is partnering with home delivery company Shipt and debuted the service in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday — with plans to expand to 50 markets and over 30 million households by the end of 2017, USA Today reported.
“Everyone’s looking to save time and get more out of less time. With Shipt in particular, people love the service and the quality of the experience,” company CEO Bill Smith said.
“As we continue to scale Shipt on a national level, we look forward to offering more options for delivery to our Florida members today, and to Shipt members across the country in the future,” he added.
The Shipt app requires a membership, which costs $99 a year for unlimited service and allows members to have products delivered straight to their homes in as little as one hour.
A Costco membership — which is typically required for shopping at its wholesale-priced warehouses — is not needed to purchase through Shipt, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Smith said the company aims to deliver mostly three to four miles from stores.
“If you order ice cream from us, we’ll deliver it directly to you,” he said.
Consumers have grown accustomed to ordering a wide array of items online, but perishables that require refrigeration present considerable logistical challenges.
Other companies that have jumped on the food delivery bandwagon include Instacart, Amazon Fresh, Google Express, FreshDirect and WeDeliverGroceries.com.
By 2025, as much as 20 percent of grocery shopping — or $100 billion in annual consumer sales — could be conducted online, according to the Food Marketing Institute.
More than 70 percent of shoppers believe they’ll shop for groceries online rather than roaming crowded aisles within the next decade, if not sooner.
Stacy Miletti of Troy, Mich., started using Shipt at the supercenter chain Meijer about a year ago and spends about $90 every two weeks on items like cereal, milk and laundry detergent.
“The big motivation for me is it saves time. … I can log in at 2 or 3 in the morning and do the shopping when it works for me,” Miletti, 48, told USA Today. “I love it, but it’s not perfect. The only thing I don’t like about it is you have to be home when it’s delivered.”