technical communication

A Business Proposal

for

Prepared for

Apoorva Mehta CEO of Maplebear Incorporated

San Francisco, California

by Erica Jetté

April 29, 2020

Phone: (352) 226-7467 Email: [email protected]

2900 NW 14th Place Gainesville, FL 32605 April 29, 2020 Apoorva Mehta, CEO Maplebear Incorporated 50 Beale Street San Francisco, California 94105 Dear Mr. Mehta: I’m sure we all can agree that the elderly should be the most respected and well-cared for people in our society. Sadly though, the needs of our senior citizens are often overlooked and neglected. For many seniors, it is difficult and dangerous to go grocery shopping, particularly for those who have poor eyesight, live by themselves, are immunocompromised, have memory impairments, are at a fall risk, or can no longer drive. A clear solution for this problem seems to be grocery delivery services such as your existing Instacart, but unfortunately, many elderly people are intimidated by high-tech grocery delivery services built for and by tech-savvy young people. In order to solve this lack of safe, easy grocery access for our elderly, I propose that Maplebear Inc. launch a new grocery delivery service under the name Instacart for Seniors that is specifically designed with the unique needs of senior citizens in mind. Because this new service is primarily based off of Instacart’s existing model, required effort and costs would be minimal, as is discussed in detail in this proposal. I hope that you will be willing to partner with me to make this service, which will not only help seniors, but also Maplebear Inc. and the community at large, a reality. Please feel free to contact me at the phone number or email below if you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this proposal. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,

Erica Jetté

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

INFORMATIVE ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................. iv

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................................. 1

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ........................................................................................................................... 1

BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................................... 1

OBJECTIVE ........................................................................................................................................................... 1

NEED ................................................................................................................................................................... 1

SCOPE .................................................................................................................................................................. 2

PROPOSED PLAN ............................................................................................................................................................... 2

BENEFITS ............................................................................................................................................................. 2

METHODS ........................................................................................................................................................... 3

TIMETABLE .......................................................................................................................................................... 4

PROJECTED COSTS .............................................................................................................................................. 4

EXPECTED RESULTS ............................................................................................................................................ 5

CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5

WORKS CITED .................................................................................................................................................................... 6

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INFORMATIVE ABSTRACT

Senior citizens in America face many difficulties that prevent them from being able to safely, easily, and conveniently grocery shop. These difficulties can include increased risks associated with driving due to physical and cognitive impairments, compromised immune systems that make public places unsafe, loss of vision, physical weaknesses that make lifting heavy items difficult or impossible, and memory deficiencies that necessitate an accompanying person to help them. Despite this clear lack, no services exist to accommodate seniors’ grocery needs. Existing grocery delivery services are designed for a young, technologically experienced audience and often intimidate seniors, leading them to avoid using the services. In order to address this lack of safe, easy access to groceries, this document proposes that Maplebear Incorporated launch Instacart for Seniors, a new grocery delivery service that is designed to specifically accommodate the unique needs of seniors. Instacart for Seniors would expand Maplebear Inc.’s customer base, increase safety for seniors, and provide a convenient alternative to traditional grocery shopping for seniors and their caregivers. The service would focus on specialized app design for maximum ease of use, accessibility for seniors all across America with varying access to computers and smartphones, and a targeted ad campaign designed to appeal to an older audience. Instacart for Seniors would be primarily based off of the existing grocery delivery model given by Maplebear Inc.’s Instacart and would use many of the same structural, design, marketing, and branding elements, significantly decreasing both the time required to create the service and the costs associated with it.

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INTRODUCTION

Statement of the Problem Grocery shopping can be inconvenient, difficult, or even dangerous for seniors across America because of age-related issues. So far, very few accommodations have been made to make grocery shopping more convenient, easier, and safer for the elderly.

Background Currently, Maplebear Inc.’s company Instacart is one of the leading independent grocery delivery services in America. Instacart is used either through an app on a mobile device or through a website to order groceries that are purchased from local grocery stores and delivered directly to doorstops by independently contracted “shoppers.” Users of this service have the option either to pay delivery charges per order (with various pricing options depending on the cost of the groceries and the speed of delivery) or to pay for an Instacart Express monthly or yearly subscription that covers free two-hour delivery on all orders over $35 (Redman). Instacart has been highly successful and continues to grow its consumer base of primarily young adults and families every year, but it is infrequently used by seniors due to intimidation or hesitation about using seemingly high-tech services created by and marketed to young, technologically experienced people.

Objective This proposal offers a plan for Maplebear Inc. to address the lack of accommodation for the grocery needs of seniors by developing a new service called Instacart for Seniors, a grocery delivery service specifically designed for the unique needs and wants of the elderly.

Need There are 51 million people over the age of 65 living in America, many of whom have various health conditions that prevent them from being able to safely or easily visit the grocery store (“Rank by Age Report”). One of the most significant ways that these health conditions can endanger senior citizens is through the adverse effects that they have on the elderly’s ability to drive safely. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), over 75% of seniors over the age of 65 are on some kind of medication that can affect physical or cognitive abilities, but less than a third of them are aware that their driving can be impacted by their medications. Additionally, visual and cognitive impairment, slower reaction times, arthritis, and chronic illnesses, all of which are associated with aging, significantly increase the risk of “at-fault” traffic collisions (Ahn). By decreasing how much seniors are driving, we can keep our elderly citizens and our overall communities safer. As people age, their immune systems become weaker, which increases their likelihood of getting sick and decreases their ability to fight the infection. Public spaces, like grocery stores, with many people in the same building and touching the same things can be dangerous to these older, immunocompromised people. With age, there is also often

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memory impairment, loss of eyesight, and physical weakness, all of which can make grocery shopping difficult and even unsafe. Finally, seniors often struggle with complex smartphone technology and are unaccustomed to modern ways of getting food (such as online grocery ordering), so many are intimidated by these methods and avoid using them because they have not been taught how to do so, even though they would be beneficial for many reasons, as discussed previously. This shows a clear need for a grocery delivery service that is simple to use and custom built for seniors – a service like Instacart for Seniors.

Scope The following plan for Instacart for Seniors includes:

• Benefits of launching • Methods for designing, creating, and running • Timetable for executing the plan to create and grow • Projected costs of developing, sustaining, and marketing • Expected results of the launch

PROPOSED PLAN

This plan takes into account the unique needs of senior citizens, as well as the interests of Maplebear Inc. to provide a much-needed service.

Benefits The primary benefits of launching Instacart for Seniors include: Expanded Customer Base. Instacart for Seniors would give Maplebear Inc. an opportunity to broaden their customer base to include seniors who would otherwise never have decided to try grocery delivery services. Online grocery delivery has been a service primarily targeted at young adults until now, so not only is there a need for this service for the elderly, but there is also very little competition from other companies. These factors should lead to an increase both in profit for Maplebear Inc. and in the number of Americans being reached by Maplebear’s services. Increased Safety for Seniors. Providing seniors with a way to have groceries delivered without ever having to leave their homes would protect them from dangers related to driving, public places, and heavy lifting, as well as keep those who have cognitive or memory impairments safe at home. Instacart for Seniors would reduce the amount of driving that elderly citizens have to do and limit their exposure to public places where they could be exposed to diseases that their immune systems may not be able to adequately fight. Additionally, it would keep them from having to lift and transport heavy items that could lead to injury. All of these safety benefits will

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help seniors, both by directly protecting them and by giving them further independence that will enable them to remain living in their homes for longer before having to move to assisted living facilities. Convenience for Seniors and Caregivers. Outside of safety benefits, this service would also simply make life easier for many seniors by allowing them to order food at their own convenience instead of having to travel to buy groceries. Additionally, many seniors who aren’t able to shop for themselves are shopped for by adult children or other caregivers, many of whom also have full time jobs. Instacart for Seniors would give seniors and caregivers more time together and would eliminate the stress of grocery shopping. For seniors who are unable to directly use Instacart for Seniors due to cognitive impairments or even just unfamiliarity with technology, caregivers or adult children could order groceries and set up recurring deliveries directly to the seniors’ homes.

Methods Instacart for Seniors would use the following methods to ensure that the service is as user- friendly and accessible to seniors as possible: Specialized Application Design. Instacart for Seniors would feature a new app designed specifically for seniors with a very simple, user-friendly interface that uses large text, full color images, voice dictation, and text-narration options to make it accessible for seniors who struggle with technology, as well as those with poor vision or hearing loss. A simple tutorial would be available for viewing at any time with the touch of the “help” button, and all tabs or buttons would be tagged with text and accompanying icons. Convenience for Users. The grocery delivery service Instacart for Seniors would allow for seniors or caregivers to order food from home, which is easier and far more convenient than making a trip to the store. The app and website would automatically save previous orders for ease of reorder and would list basic grocery needs such as milk, bread, eggs, cheese, fresh fruit, and meat at the top of the front page so that users could quickly and easily find common items without having to search through hundreds of non-essentials. To be able to find and order less common items, a clearly labeled search bar would be placed at the top of the app’s home screen or the webpage. Multi-platform Accessibility. Additionally, Instacart for Seniors, like Instacart, would be accessible for seniors without smartphones through desktop and laptop computers and tablets. According to the AARP, approximately 6 out of 10 people over 60 own smartphones while over 9 out of 10 own desktop or laptop computers, so it would be vital to have multiple ways to access the service (Anderson). Targeted Advertising. In order to give seniors the option of grocery delivery, they must know about it, so advertising is necessary. Seniors typically respond well to traditional methods of advertisement, such as television commercials and mail and newspaper ads, so these would be

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some of the primary methods necessary for a successful campaign. Additionally, nearly half of Americans over 65 have active Facebook accounts, so targeted ads on that platform could be very effective for reaching seniors (Gramlich). Finally, another marketing strategy that could be successfully used to advertise Instacart for Seniors is in-store promotions through partnerships with grocery stores. Maplebear Inc. has existing partnerships with various grocery stores and has ads placed in these stores for Instacart, so updating these ads to include Instacart for Seniors would not be a difficult task. Using these methods of reaching seniors, the campaign would include general information about Instacart for Seniors and would offer promotions such as free or reduced-cost delivery for first time users to encourage trying the service. A carefully designed ad campaign is essential for success, so for Instacart for Seniors to be able to do well, Maplebear Inc. will need to launch a substantial marketing effort that is custom designed to appeal to the elderly. Nationwide Access. Because Instacart for Seniors would be an expansion of Instacart and would use existing resources and frameworks, it would be available in the thousands of cities across America that Instacart is available in. Consistent Branding. A final feature of Instacart for Seniors is the logo and branding. Maplebear Inc. already has a clean, recognizable, and trusted brand with Instacart, so Instacart for Seniors would be affiliated with this company and would use a modified version of their logo. This would provide consistency across both of these Maplebear Inc. companies, avoid disrupting or confusing the existing Instacart branding, and help establish Instacart for Seniors as a trusted company because of the reliability associated with Instacart. Below is a design prototype for the Instacart for Seniors logo which is based off of Instacart’s existing one.

Timetable Because Instacart for Seniors is in many ways based off of the model set by Instacart, it should not take long to develop and prepare it for launch. I estimate that app, website, and ad design, if done simultaneously, should take approximately 2 months, and that another month will be necessary to do final preparations for the launch. Instacart for Seniors should be ready to be released to the public within 3 months of project initiation.

Projected Costs Overall, Instacart for Seniors should be a relatively low-cost operation due to its simple design that is based off of Instacart’s existing model and its use of Instacart’s established resources.

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Software. Because Maplebear Inc. has an existing grocery delivery service and an active server, app development, design, operating, and server costs should be relatively low for Instacart for Seniors. These costs will likely be between $5,000 and $10,000 for app development and design and roughly the same operating and server costs as those being currently paid for Instacart. Shoppers. Maplebear Inc.’s current model of independently-contracted “shoppers” is working successfully for Instacart, so Instacart For Seniors would use this constantly expanding base of shoppers who currently deliver for Instacart to deliver groceries to the seniors using this new service. Because these shoppers will be shopping for both Instacart and Instacart for Seniors, there will not be additional costs for Maplebear Inc. outside of normal shoppers’ wages. Marketing. As discussed above, advertising will be necessary to inform the elderly about Instacart for Seniors. Some of the marketing costs will include design and placement of print and television ads, mail flyers, and Facebook targeted ads, all of which will have varying costs depending on the quantities and reach that are allotted to each of them. Maplebear Inc. already has an existing marketing team, a successful Instacart ad campaign, and multiple nationwide partnerships with grocery stores, so marketing costs should be substantially lower than if Instacart for Seniors was launching without these resources and should be equal or less than the current annual costs of Instacart ad campaigns.

Expected Results If Maplebear Inc. executes this plan to launch Instacart for Seniors, it will:

• Increase Maplebear Inc.’s customer base to reach a new, unreached demographic • Make life safer and easier for seniors across America • Provide a convenient alternative to traditional grocery shopping for seniors and their

caregivers All of these results will lead to the growth of Maplebear Inc. and the bettering of the lives of seniors and caregivers for years to come.

CONCLUSION

Seniors need a way to get groceries safer, easier, and more conveniently, and Instacart for Seniors, a grocery delivery service designed specifically for seniors, will do just that while also benefitting Maplebear Inc. by expanding their business to a new demographic. I hope that Maplebear Inc. will carefully consider this proposal and will respond to this significant need for grocery delivery for the elderly by deciding to launch Instacart for Seniors. I greatly appreciate Maplebear Inc.’s time and consideration regarding this proposal.

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Works Cited

Ahn, Jae Yun, et al. “Comparison of Traffic Collision Victims between Older and Younger

Drivers in South Korea: Epidemiologic Characteristics, Risk Factors and Types of

Collisions.” PLoS ONE, vol. 14, no. 4, Apr. 2019, pp. 1–14. Academic Search Complete,

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214205.

American Automobile Association. “Facts & Research.” AAA Senior Driving,

seniordriving.aaa.com/resources-family-friends/conversations-about-driving/facts-

research/.

Anderson, G. Oscar. “Technology Use and Attitudes among Mid-Life and Older

Americans.” AARP Research, Dec. 2017, DOI: 10.26419/res.00210.001.

Gramlich, John. “10 Facts about Americans and Facebook.” Pew Research Center, Pew

Research Center, 16 May 2019, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/05/16/facts-about-

americans-and-facebook/.

“Instacart Logo.” Maplebear Incorporated.

"Rank by Age Report: Entire US." DemographicsNow, Gale. Accessed 21 April 2020.

Redman, Russell. “Instacart Casts Its Lot with Supermarkets.” SN: Supermarket News, June

2018, pp. 44–45. Business Source Complete, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tru&db

=bth&AN=138510181&site=ehost-live&scope=site.