Curbside Powers Same-Day Pickup at Target, Raises $8 Million
Summary
But what about “I want it and I’ll swing by the store after work and they’ll have my order ready for me.” That’s the premise of Curbside, a startup that’s officially launching today with significant funding and a beta test with 10 San Francisco Bay Area Target stores. Curbside is betting that people will find it more convenient to fit free same-day drive-by and in-store pickups into their lives — rather than paying extra and being home at the right time to receive same-day deliveries. Retailers like Target are signing up because Curbside appeals to their competitive advantage, said co-founder and CEO Jaron Waldman. Waldman was previously at Apple working on the company’s location tools after it acquired his startup Placebase. And also, Volpi said, e-commerce is exploding so fast that there’s room for multiple more convenient ways to get people and the stuff they’ve bought in the same place.