Hacker News Reader

I'm curious about the economics of this. It appears that both of the new websites offer free shipping with fairly low minimum purchases ($15 and ~$30).

The products being offered almost universally cost a lot to ship (by either being high weight for liquids or high volume for chip bags) while being very low value.

View on HN

My bet is they’re repurposing the delivery vans and light trucks normally used to restock restaurants, vending machines and like. If they get the route planning right it’s not so bad but probably gives worse margins than their grocery store channels.

I can see a case in some places for some people; for example during the pandemic lockdown I ran out of some of the stuff I usually buy; for me ordering 3 months worth of stuff 4 times a year and delivered directly at home is much more convenient than buying it weekly or every 2 week together with the usual grocery. I am lucky to have the space to deposit 3 months of their product (we don't consume too much of it, just juice and some Pepsi Twist) and for the right price and convenience I would be a great client for them; I would even do a subscription with automated payments, like the netflix one.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com