New grocery delivery service debuts this week

It’s hard not to be lazy this time of year. You’ve worked all summer long, it’s hot out and the looming prospect of the fall semester is enough to make even the most responsible students seek out the couch and a bag of pork rinds.

But, a new Bloomington food service is aiming to make shopping for food accessible to even the laziest of couch potatoes. In fact, you don’t have to leave the couch to get the potatoes.

Fastclickgrocery.com , a grocery delivery service started by IU alumnus Aaron Kahn, hopes to cash in on an East Coast idea that is just now gaining popularity on college campuses. Customers pay a $3.99 delivery fee, plus the cost of the food, and can have groceries delivered to their door.The site will debut Wednesday.

“This isn’t a new idea, but it’s a new idea for college campuses,” said Kahn, who graduated in 2005 and spent about $10,000
to get the site up and running. “Many of the students that are from the East Coast are already familiar with this.”

Kahn’s inspiration came from his own college experience, where a lack of transportation limited his choices of where and what he could eat.

“Because I didn’t have transportation, I’d always be forced to order food or eat in the dorms,” Kahn said. “I always wanted to have other options.”

The Fast Click process is relatively simple: Users register online, shop for items in an online store and choose a delivery time. Users can search for recipes and have all the ingredients delivered with a copy of the recipe.

Parents even have the option of putting money into a “fast funds” account, which can be used to pay for groceries on the Web site.

This new start-up could be seen as threatening to other local food-delivery services, such as btownmenus.com or campusfood.com.

However, Peter Margulies, co-founder of btownmenus.com, said he doesn’t see it that way.

“The more the merrier, to be honest,” he said. “The more services that benefi t the students, the better.”

Despite this open acceptance from competitors, Kahn is quick to note the differences that set his service apart.

“(B-town Menus) is more for complete meals from restaurants,” Kahn said. “We give students the opportunity to prepare their own food, and we have tobacco products.”

Online services like this usually struggle to gain solid name recognition early on, Margulies said. But Fast Click is working hard to weather the initial storm of obscurity, Kahn said.

“We’re going to run Facebook ads, and we have fl yers,” he said.

He’s also planning on running newspaper advertisements.

All this marketing will be in vain, however, if the idea doesn’t fly with students.

Sophomore John Preuss said he’s skeptical about the merits of the service.

“I think it would very likely not be worth it,” he said, “because there’s a bus system, and nothing’s too far even if you have to walk.”

Still, he isn’t ruling out the idea and said many students may be attracted to the service. “I think there’s going to be a group of people who really like it,” Preuss said. “I will admit, it sounds really convenient.”