Today I had a chance to play with Alice (Who the heck is Alice?…my wife asks).
For those of you who don’t know her, meet Alice - she is the answer to those grueling trips to your supermarket!
Its been about 38 months since my last trip to Costco - I figured out in my first year of membership that we don’t need a bottle (package rather) of ranch that lasts a full year. Pizza places go out of business in that kinda time! What about TP? With that much toilet paper, how can we ever find room to store our kids? (once we have em). Somehow between juggling my business and personal life, and therapy, I’ve elegantly delegated my wife’s moral obligation to be taking care of what we need for the house :-) The problem - she (a seasoned impulse shopper) brings home stuff we don’t ever need. My dog now has a collar in every color and probably as many treat brands as Tinkerbell!
Truth be told, the long lines make her nervous too and she usually goes to the supermarket next door. Occasionally though, I get a “babe, it’s a girlie***iblankedoutontherestofwhatyousaid***thingy today and could you make that trip to get us some toothpaste” phone call……I mean sacrificing a morning run across the golden gate for what, some paste? No more! Say no to those infrequent, yet exhaustive trips!
I heard about Alice.com (in beta) on Twitter today. I’ve eagerly signed up and have setup deliveries for all the toilet paper and paste we’ll ever need! Of course guys, be savvy - Alice will send you reminders and you can save preferences but do your due diligence. Even though they offer free shipping, unless you’re willing to wait 2 days without TP and resort to gross alternatives, be selective about your preferences and let Alice do all the work for you.
Amazon has a similar service but I don’t think they ever got it right. Alice.com has found a niche and it strictly focuses on that. Their funding is limited but given the idea, combined with exposure to the millions who read my personal blog (I’d like to think that), I think Alice is poised for success.
