It's interesting you picked grocery shopping as your 2nd example because I do think it's a perfect example. In both cases you are trusting someone with something very very important and in both cases if the person is a lunatic they likely won't get harmed (vs Uber where if they do something crazy like drive off a bridge they run the risk of dying too).
Honestly, I don't think massive platforms are the way to go for such intimate things like dog walking and grocery shopping. I don't have a dog right now but I've had pets in the past. They are your family. Trusting them to a random person on a massive platform seems almost impossibly irresponsible. The same goes with letting a complete stranger shop for your food.
Funny enough I walk around my neighborhood without a dog for a bit of exercise, and have been doing this for years. A number of people who I've talked to over the years have asked me if I would walk their dog for them. I said no simply because I really enjoy not having a schedule for when I walk and I didn't want to be tied into a commitment. But my point is, I think things like dog walking and grocery shopping needs to be a small scale operation where you have a real human connection and trust level with the person doing the work. They have to be a legit friend.
Agreed. On-demand dogwalking is just an awful idea IMO. You absolutely have to build a relationship with your dogwalker and there's no reason to keep Wag in the loop once that relationship is built.
Not to mention that at scale, dogs are going to die/get lost no matter what you do, so there's a ton of risk in having a single brand that owners don't have a strong personal relationship with. I think whitelabeling the tech and then reaching customers via local brands makes a lot more sense.
I don't think food is nearly as bad. The worst you can do without malice is buy shitty food.
Wag could actually deliver value by charging for finding competent and vetted dog-walkers, so customers would be paying for all the background checks, etc. Instead, they're just a shitty rent-seeking gig economy startup.
Honestly, I don't think massive platforms are the way to go for such intimate things like dog walking and grocery shopping. I don't have a dog right now but I've had pets in the past. They are your family. Trusting them to a random person on a massive platform seems almost impossibly irresponsible. The same goes with letting a complete stranger shop for your food.
Funny enough I walk around my neighborhood without a dog for a bit of exercise, and have been doing this for years. A number of people who I've talked to over the years have asked me if I would walk their dog for them. I said no simply because I really enjoy not having a schedule for when I walk and I didn't want to be tied into a commitment. But my point is, I think things like dog walking and grocery shopping needs to be a small scale operation where you have a real human connection and trust level with the person doing the work. They have to be a legit friend.