Making a quick run to the local Whole Foods Market can easily turn into a day-long affair: driving to the store, finding parking, maneuvering your way through fellow shoppers, spending an hour browsing the aisles and then waiting to check out. Apparently it doesn’t have to be that way now that the grocer launched delivery and in-store pickup service – all but taking the experience out of shopping at the upscale supermarket.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that Whole Foods teamed up with Instacart to offer online grocery service in 15 major U.S. cities.

The new service, which will be piloted in Austin and Boston, operates like other grocery delivery services with the exception of placing an Instacart employee in the Whole Foods store to fulfill orders in as little as one hour.

According to a painful-to-watch online video ad for the service, that apparently means you’ll never have to go without a gluten-free cupcake or be forced to sit out of a coffee break but there’s only (gasp) full-lactose milk available.

To use the new service, consumers enter their ZIP code on the Instacart website or app then shop with a virtual cart. Once they’ve checked off their list, customers chose a delivery window of anywhere from one our to two hours or another scheduled time.

Then the embedded Instacart personal shopper receives the order on his or her smartphone, begins shopping for the items and makes the delivery or sets the goods aside for pickup.

Additionally, customers can use the new service to send groceries to others; as seen in the video when a drunk grandma sends her fraternity-member grandson tofu.

The venture provides the first delivery free, before charging $5.99 for one-hour delivery and $3.99 for two-hour delivery. Instacart offers a $99 annual membership for free deliveries of purchases of more than $35.

Whole Foods launches national grocery delivery, pickup service [Austin American-Statesman]

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