Am I the only one who heard that Skip the Dishes and Instacart were going to team up to offer each others services through both apps and wondered which one of them is about to be bought out? That has to be the goal here, right? How does it make any sense otherwise? Cannibalism is only mutually beneficial if at least one of you has agreed to be on the menu, and cannibalism is exactly what this is.
My guess, which I should make clear that I’m basing on little more than the fact that my brain works, is that Skip is in trouble. If you use it, you’ve surely noticed that they’ve spent years trying to become more than just the takeout guys. They expanded into alcohol which seems like a natural fit, but they’ve also added places like drugstores, Walmart and M&M Food Market, which is a clear attempt to break into the grocery business. If that attempt were going well, why would they suddenly hand all of that success over to Instacart?
Instacart, though, does have something to gain. Unless they’ve done such an awful job of it that I haven’t noticed, they haven’t been publicly trying to crack the restaurant market. But if they wanted to make a run at it, starting out wouldn’t get much easier than finding a friend with a long list of clients. And if that friend just so happens to also have some money problems, all the better. Negotiating is much more fun when you’re the one in the position of strength.
My prediction is that by this time next year if not sooner, we’ll be calling Skip the Dishes Instaplate.
Skip and Instacart have announced a new partnership. Starting today, Skip customers can start ordering grocery and retail products through the Skip app. Instacart customers can access Skip’s network of more than 50,000 national and local restaurant partners.
Also, Skip+ members can get $0 delivery fees on Instacart-powered grocery and retail orders. Instacart+ members can also get $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees on Skip.
On Skip, you just need to open the app and tap the grocery icon. In the grocery section, there are more than 130 retail banners and more than 9,000 locations in Canada. And on the Instacart app, you can tap on the restaurant icon and browse through 50,000+ national and local restaurants.