grocery shopping via the net

[cellio]

A story on CNN today suggests that grocery shopping by internet is becoming more available. Personally, I'd love it -- and not just for the reason they cite in the story, that it's more convenient for busy people. My grocery store might, theoretically, deliver 50-pound bags of cat food, and 14-pound jugs of litter, and bags full of heavy canned goods, and so on right to my front door, with no shlepping on my part? Count me in! And I'm young and (mostly) able-bodied -- this would be a real boon to those who aren't.

They list downsides of concern for spoilage (how long does it take to get the ice cream to you and will it melt first?) and people not trusting others to pick their produce. Personally, I believe it's in the stores' best interest to deliver quality goods, so I'm not concerned -- and anyway, I suspect most people wouldn't do all their shopping this way. I can easily pop into the store for milk, eggs, and salad makings once a week on the way home from work. A "real" shopping run, though, requires more time and effort. I'd be delighted to just email it in and wait for gratification.

No, for me the issues would be (1) will they deliver at convenient times, (2) will they honor coupons and other discounts, and (3) will they support order placement such as "whichever of Coke or Pepsi is cheaper this week"?

Comments

[dsrtao]

Three of these services have been available here in Boston in the last few years; one of them, Peapod, is still around.

They will certainly deliver at convenient times -- IIRC, they'll accept a half-hour window from you with sufficient notice. Manufacturer's coupons are honored. The selection of foods is nowhere near as broad as the grocery store with which they are affiliated, and the prices are not the same -- they are higher, in addition to whatever delivery fee is in place.

[cellio]

Prices -- ah, that could be a limitation. I had gotten the impression that you would pay the store price and a flat delivery fee -- and I'm probably perfectly willing to pay, say, a $10 delivery fee if I get to load up the order with $200' worth of stuff that I'd rather not carry myself. If those goods are going to cost significantly more than in the store, though, that's not attractive.

[dsrtao]

No, sorry. Not only that, but there are never any special sales. If your local Stop & Shop is offering milk at $2.75 a gallon, the Peapod delivering the same milk will still be at $3.29. At the store you might change your mind and pick up Canada Dry on sale for 99 cents, instead of Schweppes at 1.29 -- but there's no difference at Peapod. Multiply those discrepancies by 30-odd items plus the delivery charge, and your grocery bill could go up more than $100/month quite easily...

[siderea]

Actually, Star had (has?) a service where you do your own shopping, and then hand them $5 or $10 (I forget which) at the register, and arrange a drop off time, and go home. Your groceries, allegedly, then show up at that time.

This has obvious unhappy ramifications for, say, ice cream, but would work fine for kitty litter.

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

with Peapod, which we have around here, it's the best way to get your produce. They want customers to be happy, so they have experts pick out the best. Also, they always have a zillion times they can deliver, and they have dry ice to put everything on if you're not going to be there. Don't know if they'll support "whichever of Coke or Pepsi is cheaper" but you can look at the price and make your choice. The thing that concerned me about it was that I was worried if I ordered, say, olive oil that they might substitute brands if the brand I wanted wasn't available. This could create a kashrus nightmare. But as it turns out, you can either use the option to substitute or use only the brands you specify. Sort of like "brand necessary" on prescriptions to avoid generics. :) We don't actually use it because I'm too lazy to do the initial work to set it up (after the first time, you can use recurring shopping lists), but I probably will eventually.

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

Its pretty common in the UK, we have our weekly shop delivered and have for the past couple of years, its very convenient and good for us cos of the various health problems that mean getting food and essentials for the family is a nightmare of trudging round the aisles of a supermarket. Over here the stores set up a "favourites" list, like a shopping list, so once you've bought an item once you just tick it off each week, and they highlight special offers and tell you the prices per item so you can comparison shop. Tis very nifty, and though we sometime have to complain (like the time they brought a roast chicken, steak, sausages and 15 pints of milk all due up the following day!) its pretty reliable overall.

[meadhbh-9.livejournal.com]

My mum has been using Grocery Gatway in Toronto for years. They deliver the same items every week or every 2 weeks automatically if she sets up her profile that way. She tends to get the heavy stuff and staples delivered, and goes out to get the occasional suddenly needed items. She loves it! It does cost more, but it saves her back a lot of aching...

[anisodragnfly.livejournal.com]

i love your icon (i'm a dragonfly fan). where'd you get it?

[meadhbh-9.livejournal.com]

It's a portion of the following celtic art work by Cari Buziak titled "DragonFly":

http://www.aon-celtic.com/cgiftshopposter95.html

[rectangularcat]

I use my local independent grocery store - Stongs.

The prices are exactly the same as the store and the advertised specials are on the site and are honoured. I am not sure about coupons but I think they are accepted as well (I am not a coupon clipper).

I opt for pick-up (a 5$ fee, 10$ for delivery on top of the grocery bill) as the store is close-by and this way I do not have to worry about being home or tipping. I tend to get my bulk heavy stuff like litter and cat food elsewhere so heaving stuff home isn't that big of a deal (and when bulk shopping... Steve is home to bring it up to the 3rd floor...)

This is great for shopping on a special diet as I can choose my stuff from my list and stick to it. I especially like it for the produce selection, and deli stuff as my lists are usually quite long and complicated. We tend to do this type of huge grocery shopping once every 2 weeks. And once a week we do a quick stop for milk and odds and ends.

I find that it takes me 1 hour to do the order online as I have not yet mastered doing a list that repeats itself. However, 1 hour in front of my pc is much more fun that one hour in a grocery store. And this way I am not missing something...

For delivery, they have a refrigerated section in their delivery vehicles so the frozen stuff stays frozen.

Too bad that this store is only in Vancouver but the business model works!