Postmates wasn't the only new delivery service that launched locally on Thursday. Instacart, another food-focused delivery service, is also now at Tampa Bay's fingertips.
In an hour, Instacart brings retailers such as Publix, Costco, Total Wine & More and Petco to doorsteps in Riverview, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater Beach and 77 other zip codes. Like Shipt and Postmates, Instacart hires personal shoppers to do the legwork at the store.
"Expansion into Tampa Bay gives us an opportunity to service even more consumers in the Florida market. We're also excited to build a world class shopper community, where we can offer fun and flexible jobs for our shoppers, who ultimately deliver this amazing service to the community," Friedrich said in a statement.
The Bay area marks Instacart's third expansion in Florida, and new customers have access to free delivery on their first orders, whether they go online or through the Instacart mobile app.
With big-deal dinner holidays (think Thanksgiving and Christmas) on the horizon, it'll be interesting to see how popular these delivery services in the business of convenience become.
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 3, 2016.