3 On-Demand Services That Will Make Your Life Easier

By Jeremy Cleland for Tech Connect−

Maria Carter-Giannini is a teacher and mother of two young girls who loves experimenting in the kitchen. But she doesn’t always have time to browse for ingredients at the grocery store. Using her smartphone to order groceries via the web has changed all that.

“I’m all about Amazon Fresh,” she says. “They have a ton of organic options, and I love that I can do it all on my phone. It’s a little pricey at $300 a year [for a membership], but that gets you free delivery too. We end up using it every week.”

On-demand services are on the rise because they save you time. And even with membership fees, they potentially save you money because you stick to your budget by planning out your purchases versus being vulnerable to last-minute impulse buys.

“The on-demand-economy continues to grow at a rapid rate,” says Tyler Engh, co-founder of R7 Partners, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies. “The big brands like Amazon Prime and Instacart have made life easier at the touch of a button. I no longer have to take time out of my day to go to the store for basic household items.”

To get your must-have goods delivered to your door, here are three of the leading service apps for iOS and Android smartphone users:

Amazon Prime ($99/yr) and Amazon Fresh ($299/yr)
With Prime you get free two-day shipping — unlimited deliveries with no minimum order size on dry goods, household items, car parts, gifts, etc. There are 20 million eligible items — and free same-day delivery on a plethora of items shipping to selected metro areas across the United States. With Fresh, you get all the same benefits of Prime (including a video library you can stream for free) but you can also get groceries delivered to your home. From organic vegetables to prepared meals, goodies from local shops and restaurants, and even eggs, Amazon Fresh provides same- or next-day delivery to your doorstep.

Google Express ($95/yr or $10/mo)
With this service, you can get same-day or overnight delivery from stores in your major metropolitan areas such as Target, Costco (requires membership), Whole Foods and other markets. Google Express is set to offer cold grocery deliveries in some areas but for now it’s mostly dry goods. So make sure your favorite items are available before signing up.

Postmates ($5 delivery fee and 9% premium on the order total)
This service will deliver just about anything retail or food related 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can get medicine from Walgreens, a grilled cheese sandwich from your local restaurant or laundry soap in under an hour delivered to your doorstep. The bonus is that there is no annual membership fee. Instead, Postmates charges a $5 delivery fee and 9% premium on the order total. Postmates has expanded to 40 major metro areas. 

Jeremy Cleland has been a spokesperson for several Silicon Valley startups, like Tesla Motors, and spearheaded global stories about technology featured in media like Vice, Time magazine, Forbes and Wired.com. He’s also the dad to a 5-year-old who is already more tech-savvy than him.