It was a novelty at first, the convenience of ordering groceries online and picking them up at an appointed time. Now delivery services have joined the mix, and for many shoppers, there is no going back.
Grocery delivery services and curbside pickup is main stream now.
Cyndy Garza Roberts with H.E.B. says the Texas grocery chain was an early pioneer of curbside pickup. “We’ve been doing it now for close to a year,” she tells KTRH News. And customers love the convenience, now asking for even more options. “We also work with Shipt, Instacart, and now the delivery service Favor has joined our H.E.B. family.”
Most grocery stores are offering delivery service today, and because so many people are enjoying the convenience of buying their pet food online, Petco has joined retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Costco and many others. Costs vary from $5 to $10 per delivery and often come with minimum purchase requirements.
If you’ve ever taken a toddler, or two, along to do the grocery chores you can well imagine who is finding great ease in the service. “What we’re seeing is the primary customers who utilize our curbside and delivery services are women, and especially mothers with children,” says Roberts. How easy it is to shop for the week’s groceries online while the kids are doing homework after dinner and have the food delivered to the front door in the morning before you leave for work.
Customers say the appeal is convenience, savings on gas, restrictions on those uncontrollable impulse buys while waiting in line, and the help delivery services offer to disabled and elderly consumers.
Our habit of demanding what we want when we want it, which has changed our approach to television programming and retail shopping, has expanded to include our groceries as well.