Shop from different supermarkets with new, one-stop online grocery delivery service

Home-grown grocery concierge service, Honestbee. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM HONESTBEE.COM

SINGAPORE - Families can now pick and choose their groceries from a variety of local supermarkets, and have them delivered to their doorstep using just one service.

Home-grown grocery concierge service, Honestbee (www.honestbee.com), differs from online supermarkets such as Redmart, Fairprice Online and Cold Storage Online, in that the shopping service does not hold any inventory.

Instead, it offers users the option of buying items from different grocery stores, and delivers the items within a stipulated time set by the user.

The concierge service sends out its own shoppers to the nearest supermarket near a user's home to pick up the ordered items.

Honestbee has currently tied up with six supermarkets and speciality stores to roll out this service, and partners include Cold Storage, The Butcher's Dog and Four Seasons Organic Market.

It currently offers over 12,000 items, ranging from organic produce, frozen meats and gourmet foods to nutritional supplements and pet care products.

While the service offers islandwide delivery, users must indicate their delivery location, and they can shop at only supermarkets located nearby.

A spokesman for the company says that Honestbee will be adding more supermarkets, and will roll out islandwide grocery deliveries, by the end of the year.

Delivery fees are $10 for orders under $30 per supermarket, and free for orders above the amount. Consumers pay the prevailing prices at the supermarket, and if the supermarket has an in-store promotion for an item, the discount is passed on to the consumer.

This is because Honestbee updates its online product listings only weekly.

Its business model is based on a revenue share with its partner supermarkets. It also seeks out the ones who are not able to set up an online portal and delivery service of their own.

sherwinl@sph.com.sg

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