Didn't live up to expectations: New Yorker appreciated Buyk, a Russian-based grocery delivery service

Correspondent The New York Times James Barron talked about his first food delivery order through Buyk. Recall service founded by Russian-speaking immigrantsBuyk began operations in New York in August.

Online companies in New York promise to deliver groceries in 15 minutes or less, so no one needs to worry about running out of milk. The city has at least half a dozen ultra-fast delivery services - Buyk, JOKR, Gopuff, Gorillas, 1520, and Fridge No More. They mainly operate in Manhattan and in parts of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

James decided to test how Buyk works, promising to deliver your order in no more than 15 minutes. Further - from the first person.

$ 20 Off First Order

I decided to try one of them - Buyk, simply because last week I received a coupon in the mail with discounted $ 20 for my first order. As a result, my total order was only $ 4,78. I ordered six items - 1,8 L of low-fat milk, four 700 ml bottles of water, and some salmon for dinner. Soon a message appeared in the application: "We are packing your order."

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The stakes are high for companies like Buyk. Online shopping accounts for 12% of all product sales in the country, according to Coresight Research, a firm that studies such things. Before the pandemic, this figure was 2%.

These services have their fans. Nick O'Keefe, a construction project manager who lives in Manhattan's East Village, signed up for JOKR and Fridge No More in August and now says he may never return to the supermarket again.

“The convenience of this is far superior to anything else,” he said. "This is the future."

However, there are also opponents. Gail Brewer, president of the Manhattan borough, wondered if companies were getting too fixated on the pursuit of speed.

“Who the hell needs an apple in 15 minutes? - she said. "If you want something in 15 minutes, go to the store."

Delayed

But back to my Buyk order, it was placed at 13:28. For the next 11 minutes, I did other things. Next time I updated application at 13:39. It kept track of the time and read: “6 minutes left. The courier is on its way. " This instilled confidence.

I checked the app again at 13:42 pm. It said: “There is 1 minute left. The courier is on its way. "

At 13:43 pm, I checked the application again. It went into apology mode: "Sorry, we're late."

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The courier arrived at 13:49. It took 21 minutes to collect the goods, pack them and deliver them to the door. I doubt I could get to a store a couple of blocks from here and find my six items that quickly. But Buyk was 6 minutes late, because they promise that the order will arrive no later than 15 minutes later.

A Buyk spokesperson told me that the company has experienced “a dramatic increase in orders over the past few days. He added that they are working hard to meet this growing demand by hiring additional couriers, ”as well as creating more warehouses. Since its debut in August, Buyk has opened 20 warehouses in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

By the end of the year, it is planned to open 100 warehouses throughout the city. Therefore, couriers no longer have to travel long distances.