Instacart is fighting hard

Amazon Whole Foods is a huge threat to Instacart.

Not only was Whole Foods Instacart’s first partner, and one of its first investors, its expected that Amazon Fresh will soon replace Instacart for their 460+ stores. But Instacart is moving quickly and just signed up Aldi for a test in Dallas, Atlanta, and parts of Los Angeles. It's a smart move for both. Aldi who had been unchallenged for thirty years, now has the spiffier, hipper Lidl at its heels. And offering grocery delivery a service typically offered by traditional and  high-end food retailers and for higher income customers may attract customers who have never shopped at Aldi. 

“Aldi follows the digital world and e-commerce just like everyone else in the business,” Scott Patton, Aldi’s vice president of corporate buying, told Fortune. “Online grocery retailing will be part of the future.” Discounters like Aldi, known for its no-frills stores and highly coveted private label, have put pressure on traditional grocers. Aldi, has over 1,600 U.S. stores, and has said it will invest $3.4 billion in order to up its U.S. store count to 2,500 by 2022 and renovate some existing stores.

“We are known for great quality and low prices,” Patton says. “All different income levels want to save money.” Aldi, however, has shown a desire recently to appeal to high-end customers; it recently started to move into move into higher-end zip codes. 

Everyone likes to save money. And as I’ve said before – this has got to be the most exciting and game changing time in the history of grocery.