Instacart Adds Mariano’s in Chicago

Instacart, the San Francisco-based crowdsourced grocery delivery service, has expanded its Chicago-area coverage with the addition of Mariano’s.

Since launching in Chicago this past September, Instacart has enlarged its geographic distribution by one third and added delivery from several additional stores. Its Personal Shoppers now deliver orders from Whole Foods, Dominick’s, Costco and Mariano’s. Customers can combine items from multiple stores into one order and have them all delivered the same day.

Instacart founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta reports that Chicago customers were requesting Mariano’s delivery. “We’ve had such great feedback from our Chicago customers on the service,” said Mehta. “Our most common request is, ‘Add more stores!’ and many people have specifically asked for Mariano’s, so we did. Look for more additions before the end of the year.”

Mehta added that Instacart will double its customer base in Chicago each month, and also will double its number of Personal Shoppers monthly to keep up with the growth.

Originally launched in San Francisco, Instacart uses a crowdsourced labor force dubbed Personal Shoppers who shop for and deliver grocery orders using their own vehicles in as little as one hour. This eliminates the need for costly infrastructure such as warehouses, trucks and full-time drivers.

Instacart service is now available in 21 Chicago neighborhoods, and all new customers get complimentary delivery on their first order.