Go for the Ben & Jerry’s, Stay for the Subtle Art of Surprise Chips
By: Terry Bain
Tags: Referrals, Delivery, Groceries, Cannabis, Go Puff

Go for the Ben & Jerry’s, Stay for the Subtle Art of Surprise Chips

I thought I was happy with Instacart. Like many, I’d come to rely on the someone-else-shops-for-me app during the Covid pandemic. Indeed, I still use it sometimes. I’m not one hundred percent comfortable mixing my air with everyone else. And for the most part I really like being able to place and order and pay to have someone else do the shopping for me. (I tend to tip pretty well because I doubt very much that the shoppers are getting paid a living wage.) Recently, when we got a postcard from GoPuff, I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic, especially given its ridiculous name (that I’m going to assume has nothing at all to do with needing snacks after enjoying a puff). It looked like another grocery delivery app. Yeah, I was attracted to their dollar pints of Ben & Jerry’s, but I couldn’t see myself using the app very often. Also I was pretty sure there would be a catch in there somewhere, like you would have to answer to the bridge troll after placing your order or feed the delivery lizard so he doesn’t poop on your steps. Turns out I was attracted enough to the dollar Ben & Jerry’s so that one day, when we were making tacos and someone said “are we out of chips?” I thought… “too bad we can’t get instacart delivered in the next 15 minutes.” Instacart has never delivered faster than 45 minutes or an hour for me, and we were about to eat. I don’t really mind that. It’s the way the service works and that’s what I would expect. But then I remembered that GoPuff works a little differently. That is, they aren’t a collection of shoppers who go to a regular store and shop for you, but a dedicated “store” or warehouse or semething that’s just for delivery. And the app gives you an estimate of how long it will take based on how busy they are (and I assume how much stuff you order). So I fired up the app and looked and it was estimating 10 minutes. I could have chips and salsa and Bubly and dollar Ben & Jerry’s to my house in time for dinner if the estimate was correct. And the estimate was correct. I had my bag of groceries in about 10 (maybe 12) minutes. I’m sure it helps that the GoPuff warehouse appears to be near my house. Most of the delivery time was actually in transit, and I could track my driver so I had a good idea when the goodies would arrive. Fantastic. Delightful. Very nicely done and I was sold. Of course I didn’t have a huge selection of chips to choose from. The two bags of chips I got were Dorito branded organic chips. Neither of these are chips I would regularly buy. I usually get something a little closer to what you might find in a good Mexican restaurant. But it really didn’t matter for that first delivery. I had chips on the table and Chunky Monkey in the freezer and that’s all that mattered. The entire service seems seriously slanted toward “the munchies.” And that makes sense. But there are also a bunch of items that you might just need and not have at the moment, like wrapping paper or beard balm or disposable face masks or Plan B. A bunch of times since that first delivery I’ve needed something and thought “I wonder if GoPuff carries that,” and I’d say they do carry what I’m thinking about a little over fifty percent of the time. (Bagels: No. Pinto beans: Yes. WD-40: No. Oatly: Yes. Cold brew: Yes.) So with a ten dollar minimum and a two dollar delivery fee (plus tip), I think this service will come in handy at least once a month. And I’ll be ordering Cherries Garcia for a buck a pint until they run out or stop the promotion. I don’t always need the ice cream right now, but I can freeze it, and I’ll be perfectly happy to make a little space for every new pint of joy.

— Terry

Note: This is not a sponsored post but if you sign up for GoPuff and place an order using the link in this post, I might benefit with some pints of ice cream or a delivery of pinto beans.