San Francisco-based Instacart launched in London this morning as part of an expansion across the province.



The service allows customers to order food and items from Loblaws and Real Canadian Superstore on the Instacart website and app.



The company has plans to hire 100 "shoppers" in the London area, who pick the food on behalf of customers.



Operations manager Quentin Sarvais says the company saw high demand and traffic on its website from the London area.



"I think customers were waiting for this service to arrive," he said.



But having your goods delivered to you comes at a slightly higher cost — $3.99 for orders over $35. Alternatively, customers can get a membership with the company for $9.99 a month.



Sarvias says time, lack of transportation, and disability are reasons that some shoppers prefer to avoid going to the store altogether.



Though shoppers won't be able to examine food before purchase, Instacart allows customers to write specific instructions on their orders.



CBC reached out to a number of local grocers for reaction, but none were available for comment.



Instacart also launched in Barrie, Kingston, Vancouver and Windsor today.



The service may face competition from Amazon in the future — its AmazonFresh service is not available in Canada.