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

[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!