I come from Bay Area, CA and there has been a constant rise of the online grocery shopping. While my peers seem comfortable with it. I am still not sure of it. What do u do when your local store goes online?
I would buy certain things online, provided the price of the products or delivery haven't been marked up in such a way that it makes no sense. I've ordered a certain type of oats from Amazon because as soon as I decided that they would be my brand, the local stores no longer carried them for a price that I was willing to pay. I would never buy bacon or something that I normally look over before I purchase online or from a local delivery.
Bay area represent! Anyway. I may not. I like choosing my own produce :/ If it's something non-perishable like toilet paper or canned food or peanut butter or something, fine, but I like to pick out my own veggies and my own meat. It's just not the same if someone else picks it out for you, you know?
I'm just really not sold on this yet, I love shopping online for most things but I'm not sure that I can get behind ordering groceries online. I don't love the idea of other people picking my groceries for me, I actually enjoy the experience of shopping for food and picking exactly what's going into my cooking...I just have my reservations about it. But it definitely has its uses and I might give it a shot sometime.
I'm definitely sure that buying groceries online will help me save a lot. Because I tend to buy unnecessary stuff when I'm present at the grocery store. But like Jessifox, I'm also not sold on this idea yet. I haven't even bought a single tangible thing online, only domain names, hosting service, a few ebooks and some software applications.
I'm on the fence about it. I think it's a great idea for those that can't physically go grocery shopping on their own (disabled, elderly, etc), but I don't know if I would ever utilize the service. I'm sure the prices would be higher than normal. If not, I don't doubt that there would be extra fees associated in order to make up the difference. I live in a rural area in Pennsylvania. I doubt that any such service would ever deliver to my address.
Depending on the price I might get a few packaged and canned goods online. Pop tarts are one of the things I wouldn't mind buying online at a reasonable price, they're not as delicate as a lot of other foods, to the point where shipping might not even be an issue. Things like meat and vegetables however, I don't think I will ever buy online.
Having worked in a call center where I had to deal with customers who buy food online, I have to say, it's pretty much like buying anything else online, except, the wait time is a little bit shorter, from food to disposables, you name it, I have dealt with it. And after working with that call center for over six months, I have not had a single complaint which could not be dealt with, note well, if the person on the other end is understanding. Shopping for food the traditional way will always be more favored as most people want to sort of deal with things like shopping-for themselves . You will sometimes find that people who live far from the urban parts of a country, may want to shop online for food, the elderly may also want to do so, you name it! But at the end of the day, shopping online or not, it's that you actually get the food that you paid for that matters right?
Aptly put Expert but there are a lot of factors involved in between. Getting people to shop online for groceries is pretty difficult. To build that trust. Those who are susceptible to the model, its okay but the real challenge lies in getting them to buy. Also, I have some questions. Where were u located? Which city did you take call from?
I was looking into buying groceries online once and the prices are a lot higher making the seemingly convenience of it not really worth it. Plus if you order from a local company you have to pay a $15 delivery charge and can only deliver on certain days. If I found a site that was not too expensive I would try it though because I am seriously getting tired of going to the grocery store lol. Years ago there was a site that was really popular but then it seemed like they shut down and I was kind of bummed about that.
Exactly the problem I faced. Then I came across a siteLog In. They have good model. I could place my order online to my local store where I generally go for my grocery shopping. Those guys went online on the site along with other stores. All I had to do was pick up from the store and they won't even charge anything. On the contrary I got some pretty good disscounts. I got $45 of groceries for $35. To add to my delight, there was a long queue and I went in and just picked up my stuff and everyone was like "Who the hell is she? . They are currently in Bay Area and New Jersey.
I wouldn't do it regularly because the prices are too high and you can't really use coupons, but if I see a grocery item on Amazon that is eligible for free shipping and I need another item to qualify, I'll add the grocery item to my order. There are a couple of good supermarkets near my apartment so there's no reason not to buy groceries in person.
In San Francisco, and a few other cities, Google has launched Google Express. It's a same-day/next day delivery service that draws its products directly from local retailers. Google has partnered with major retailers in those cities, and you get same-day delivery for $95 annually, $10 monthly, or $4.99 per order. You can order groceries, electronics, and other goods at the touch of a button in the morning and have them delivered within a 4-hour window later in the day. Right now, I think you get a 3-month trial for $15 or something like that. Definitely worth the price of admission.
Okay, now that one does sound good. I generally like to do my own shopping, but I am partially disabled, so there may come a time when I need a service like this one. Good to know that there is a convenient service available that doesn't have over the top delivery prices. Thank you for sharing this.
No problem. It's relatively new, so it's only available in limited cities. I believe Google has plans to expand the service to other cities, but it has to take things slowly since its specialty isn't exactly in being a delivery service. I would expect to see a few cities added over the next few months. If Google decides its a worthwhile venture to expand upon, then I have no doubt Google Express will explode in availability and popularity. Here's Google's own page for the service: Log In
I saw your post already. It's just not relevant/helpful to me because that service isn't available in Miami, Florida. But thanks anyway.
As wonderful and convenient as the notion online shopping is, it isn't the same as being able to touch and handle items as if you were shopping in an actual supermarket or store. In the supermarket, or store, if I pick up an item and it is damaged in any way, I will put it back. But you cannot do that with online shopping. Anything could be damaged or it could even get damaged when it is being delivered to you, and there isn't much that you can do about it.
I wouldn't buy groceries online and pay hefty shipping charges when I could buy my stuff locally and save some cash. In most places, you don't get same-day delivery so if you wanted something fresh buying your groceries online wouldn't be a convenient way to get what you want fast and . . . well, fresh. It also depends on where you live. In some cities, organic grocery companies will deliver fresh groceries the same day. But since they are more expensive if your intention was to save money, this wouldn't be a good option either.
