I think the whole idea behind geographic expansion is that it proves more people are willing to pay for service X or Y than just those living in the Bay Area, who are perhaps the most amenable cross-section of the country for a service like this.

(Not advocating expansion for expansion's sake -- I think Instacart is making a wise choice -- but saying "It's just hiring" is disingenuous.)

I'd rather pay a clear delivery fee and not feel that I'm paying extra for every item than have free delivery but a mark -up on every item. I know that financially it might come out to the same thing, but psychologically I get annoyed that they charge me $4.99 when Trader Joe's charges $3.99.

I'm hoping they hit the scale where they can take some of their margin from the store (Trader Joe's specifically). Instacart Plus is a step in the right direction there.

So Express members are spending $70-105+ per week on groceries? I guess Instacart must be a hit with families.

For those kinds of users who spend $280-$420 per month on groceries, $99/year is relatively small.

I enter a Zipcode from downtown San Jose

"Bummer! We don't deliver there... yet!"

So typical. Nothing cool ever works in San Jose. :-(