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Whole Foods' ambitious delivery service in play

Whole Foods hopes to double stores offering Instacart delivery service.

March 16, 2016

In the ever competitive supermarket industry the ability to deliver what consumers want and need is prompting Whole Foods to expand its home grocery delivery service.

In collaboration with Instacart the brand is expanding delivery into new markets and building new online shopping systems nationwide, according to a Market Watch report. Whole Foods initially partnered two years ago with Instacart. Customers can order at the partner site or via a mobile app with delivery choices ranging from one hour and out.

The food retailer hopes to double the number of stores, across the country, offering Instacart service by year's end.

The initial expansion targets Orange County California and Baltimore. Yet industry watchers aren’t so convinced such delivery services will work in food retailers' favor.

"Many of the folks in this field will disappear from consolidation or failure," Max Wolff, chief economist, Manhattan Venture Partners, told MarketWatch in December.