Instamall launches "Uber Eats for fashion" in Miami, promising store-to-door delivery in 90 minutes

A new shopping app called Instamall launched in Miami on Monday, 19 October, aiming to fill the gap between the convenience of e-commerce and the immediacy of physical stores, WWD reported.

“Essentially what Uber Eats did for food five years ago, we’re doing for fashion,” founder and chief executive Elliot Aboud told WWD.

How it works

• Shoppers in the Miami area browse the live inventory of local stores from about 80 contemporary and luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Prada, Balmain, Bottega Veneta, Coach, Diesel, Reformation, Aritzia, Cult Gaia and Ganni.
• A sales associate in the store confirms the order and drops the item at an Instamall checkpoint in a nearby mall.
• A last-mile delivery partner, which Aboud described as one of the largest in the world but declined to name, delivers the order within 60 or 90 minutes.

Instamall holds no inventory of its own, and customer purchase data goes to the retailer, Aboud said. The app also offers an AI stylist and virtual try-on, which will later require a subscription.

Free for now, fees later

For the moment the service is free for retailers and delivery is free for shoppers. Aboud said the company plans to introduce delivery and convenience fees and to let retailers buy advertising placements inside the app.

Expansion plans are ambitious: Aboud said Instamall expects to cover all of Florida in about two to three months, then launch in New York, Los Angeles and Texas, and to be available across much of the United States in about six to seven months.