My second Honestbee delivery came exactly on time at 12pm (my selected slot was 12 – 1pm), so, bravo on that. Only half the items i ordered were fulfilled, which is great – it means i’m getting a higher percentage of discount (43% to be exact). This makes me picture an imaginary scene in Honestbee’s meeting room, where the business owners are doing palm-face, maybe shedding some tears over the money burnt.
I may not really need the unfulfilled items right now. Heck, i may not need anything at all. I put them in the cart just so i can make up the $120 required to enjoy the $30 discount. Anyway, i actually do know my neighbouring FairPrice supermarkets well enough to know what they don’t stock, and sure enough, these items didn’t come with my delivery. Maybe next time i’ll order more of these items to increase the unfulfilled quantum, if Honestbee will dangle this wonderful incentive again. Eggs are among the items that was not fulfilled – i sort of added this as a test to see what will happen, and i was postulating that there was at best a 50% chance i will get the eggs. I’m pretty sure the eggs are usually in-stock, but it did not come afterall. It is possible that the “bee” who did the concierge shopping on my behalf deemed it be too dangerous or too much hassle and left it out on purpose. And i think this is one of the problems with Honestbee’s business model – in the end, the business volume is decided by what the “bee” is willing to fulfill. Another problem is the product listing – the items that are actually in-stock at different FairPrice supermarkets vary a lot, and more work needs to be done to leave out those items that are not so commonly available.
On a positive note, a frozen item which i ordered was accompanied with an ice-pack this time (unlike the previous time where they were delivered half thawed). The ice-pack may be a very significant cost though, and i still think a cooler box (or better, a vehicle with some form of refrigeration) addresses the issue better. Also, the items came in FairPrice’s plastic bags, unlike the first time where they came in recyclable grocery bags, which was neither environmental-friendly nor cost effective.
I seriously think Honestbee should hire me as a business consultant. Thanks for the beer and chips anyway (literally – they cost $30.60 with the ongoing promotion, and i’m getting a $30 discount from Honestbee).
