Apps to Suit Your On Demand Lifestyle

Why wait when what you crave is just a few clicks away?

By Tracey Dowdy

Led by services like Uber and Amazon Prime, the on-demand economy has ballooned over the past couple of years. As a result, the acceptable wait time for a product or service has dropped from days to mere minutes.

So what’s out there? Besides the luxury of having a coffee maker delivered to you within an hour via Amazon Prime, what other amenities are just a click or two away? Need your morning coffee dropped off with a text notification when it shows up? Maybe you need salon services but don’t have time to get to your stylist? Or maybe you forgot to take your suit to the cleaners and you have an important presentation coming up? Relax, there really is an app for that – for all of that.

Here’s just a sampling of what’s available:

Glamsquad and Veluxe bring stylists, manicurists or personal trainers to your home. Get a mani/pedi, an up do or a blowout, or have a private one-on-one yoga session. Glamsquad’s services are limited to New York City and Veluxe to the Washington DC area. (iOS only)

Fetch Coffee comes with a hefty $45 a month subscription charge ($15 for your first month) plus the cost of the coffee. Schedule your morning latte through their website and a Fetch Coffee courier will drop it off in a thermos. You’ll get a text that the coffee has been delivered and a note instructing you to leave the thermos by the door so the courier can pick it up.

Washio offers on-demand pickup and delivery of laundry and dry cleaning with their team of “ninjas”. They guarantee 24 hour turnaround on week days, use green products, have availability early morning through late night and even bring a cookie with every pick up. The service is currently available in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston and Washington DC with more cities on the way. (iOS, Android)

Drizzly offers one-hour delivery services for alcohol with a relatively wide selection of beer, wine, spirits and mixers ranging from top shelf to the not so top shelf. The site also includes drink recipes, advice from sommeliers, top chefs and mixologists, and a selection of gifts you can also have delivered. Available in 19 cities nationwide and with plans to expand into additional markets. (iOS, Android)

Plowz and Mowz is a snow removal and lawn service available in over 30 cities. Cost varies by location – e.g. it’s more expensive in big cities – and variables such as the size of the yard or driveway, the amount of snow, the condition of your yard, etc.. Just download the app and schedule your service. Plus get 10% off your first job when you sign up. Service is pay-as-you-go with no contract required. (iOS, Android)

Of course these apps are just the tip of the iceberg. Depending where you live, on demand services are available for everything from finding a parking spot to in-home meal preparation by professional chefs to finding someone to come and assemble your Ikea furniture.

Many of these apps are limited to specific locations, so be sure to check availability in your area.

Tracey Dowdy is a freelance writer based just outside Washington DC. After years working for non-profits and charities, she now freelances, edits and researches on subjects ranging from family and education to history and trends in technology. Follow Tracey on Twitter.

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