It has everything to do with the shopper. If you get a good one after trying it several times, get the name and request the person. Plan your shipping around that shopper’s schedule.
Still, there can be issues. You have to plan and think of things you just don’t when you shop in person. You miss out on new things and deals. I don’t like it except when Needed but I had a stint when I stayed in quarantine. It was cheaper than sending DH who comes back with a car load of crazy extra stuff and is bad at finding anything on the list!
We do pick up at Harris-Teeter (in the Kroger group). It has mostly been positive. It is also our pharmacy and we can include prescriptions in the pick up. Also, Thursdays are senior day and they waive the pick up fee, give 5% discount, and have senior pick up slots. Today’s shopper was unable to supply about eight items, which is unusual. I also order sometimes from Amazon Fresh. Again, just stocking up once in a while. Delivery is free with orders over $35.
I ordered once from Walmart, it was okay. It was in the very panicky beginning and I was gathering stuff from wherever I could. HT is working for us now.
Ha ha! I’m married to a Left Brain too. Mine was sent out to get mixed nuts one time , and came back with a bag of coffee( Chock Full Of Nuts). Clearly, he is over degreed and under brained to work as a curbside pick up shopper at a grocery store.
As I said, I prefer to call the store over sending him with a list. You don’t hear me Doing much complaining about the Walmart employee doing my shopping given who I married.
So far, we’ve never ordered groceries delivered or curbside pick up. The Costco near us and grocery store have nearly everyone wearing masks properly and keep distance, so I feel it’s pretty safe.
I really like to see what’s available and looks good at what prices to plan my meals.
Another satisfied HEB shopper. We have gone back and forth between curbside and live grocery shopping depending on our Covid numbers. Curbside has been very very good, with solid produce choices and mostly sensible substitutions. They do sub in the most expensive paper products and one time I got four small jars of Nutella instead of one large one. (That was a good sub!) I get a text if there is a sub and can refuse it.
I prefer to pick out my own groceries, but now I go about once every other time.
HEB is a Texas-based chain that works to tailor its stores to the neighborhood and generally tries to be responsive to the community. Lots of good will being built during Covid.
I thought I’d update this because I gave Walmart another chance yesterday, quite honestly simply because I didn’t want a two hour drive (one hour each way) to get to Kroger. Walmart is just half an hour away (one way).
It was much better. No dented cans - though I didn’t get as many either. Produce was good. No substitutions were necessary. They had more items in stock that I wanted this time. The young lady bringing them to my car was masked properly.
The service is quite nice when it works this well!
There was no one else there when I pulled up, but one other car pulled in while my groceries were being loaded. I chose a 5-6pm time slot this time vs 8am last week. Maybe that made a difference? Either that or it’s luck of the draw.
I’m thinking I just might do this at home when we’re there, though probably only while Covid is still around because I do still like picking out my own things, esp produce.
One interesting thing… they were out of our favorite Stubbs Smokey Mesquite BBQ sauce this time. I can’t help but wonder if that in part due to the BBQ thread! It’s a good thing we have a couple of extra bottles here already.
Haven’t been in a grocery store since Feb. DH does 90% of the shopping anyway. He’s really, really picky about what brands he wants and would never relinquish this job to someone else, so we haven’t used any shopping services.
He goes out, has an R95 mask under a fabric mask, brings gloves. Comes home, unloads stuff, showers and changes clothes. We used to leave non-perishables in the bags for a couple days, but not so much now.
I went to Costco two weeks ago for a flu shot. Social distancing and mask wearing was excellent, but not going back any time soon.
I freely admit we’re more stringent about this stuff, but that’s where I am.
the first couple months, we mostly lived off what we had. Did one order from WF, but were not able to get another slot, and heard that there are worker issues. Which is why I avoid Instacart. We couldn’t get slots at any stores in the area for months, but I found out about a wholesale restaurant source in NYC which was doing home deliveries if you ordered enough ($250, eventually 200) and made do with quirky amounts available. This was are only source throughout the spring, here in Pandemic-central North Jersey. In the summer, Shop Rite curbside slots started opening up again, and I use that every 1 or 2 weeks. Most of your veggies are garden or occasional open air farm market. And I have skulked into Old People Hour four times at Trader Joes, which is generally almost empty at that hour and me and my N95 can get in and out in ten minutes.
Numbers are creeping up again so that might be out now.
Have also done curbside for wine/beer and a few things from Lowe’s as well. Have not been in any stores but the 4 TJ’s trips.
Picking up an order from Walmart tomorrow. I will go for a hike, pull into a parking spot and save myself an hour. Grocery shopping will never be my favorite form of shopping
I haven’t done online groceries enough to get used to it…do you all have a method to filling your cart or finding the items you want? It felt cumbersome to me when I did it - searching for each item, brand, size…
At the beginning, we were using delivery and curbside only. In my area, Central FL, our choices are Publix, Costco, Aldi, Target, Whole Foods and Walmart for major chains. I have tried them all but are now mostly doing Walmart and Aldi curbside. I have been happy with both. Before the pandemic, I never went to Walmart. It has been well over 10 years that I have been in one. Our local Walmart is a Superstore, gross and dirty. They opened a Neighborhood Market about 5 years ago and I have not been inside. But reading on our local social media I decided to give them a try as people raved about the cleanliness of the store as well as the management and staff. I have had wonderful service and great produce.
I like to start a Walmart order on Monday or Tuesday and reserve a pick up for Friday. During the week, I can easily add items or delete as we figure out our plans. I don’t opt for replacements. It is not perfect but it is working.
In the week since this thread began, I’m still surprised how many of you are avoiding the markets. Are you limiting other places, as well?
We live in a corner of town with several cafes and a breakfast place, several restaurants, all within a block or two, all with outdoor seating, intent disinfecting and good social distancing. There’s a local small grocery store and small WF. People here wear masks, even the younger ones. Friends and I meet.
Still I find with all the limits on what else we can do, the market is a destination.
Have been to Walmart and Stop and Shop one time in the past 6 months, won’t go to the movies that are open (the cleaning task seems impossible.) Didn’t even realize the mall was open. Haven’t dined out indoors at all, in all this time. And have enough food to last.
Just can’t imagine not getting to spin the cart around the aisles.
Daughter and son in law have been doing online grocery shopping exclusively for about 2 years now. They use Amazon Prime, and get their groceries usually in 2 hours from their order time. Occasionally they do stop in a store to pick up their own produce, but they have been doing it for so long they know what to order and things to avoid. They are in Boston, so I assume the quick delivery has to do with where they are.
I, on the other hand love grocery shopping in store, but for obvious reasons now do the in and out quick dash.
Since the spring we’ve only used one supermarket (Shaw’s, which I believe is part of the Albertson’s world here in MA). As a result, we know the store’s layout very well. Whichever one of us that is going uses a list that divides the items by department, so that we make one pass through, without having to double back.
By freezing bread and buying lactose-free milk (crazy long time before it expires) we’ve only had to go shopping every 3 weeks or so.
@lookingforward coronavirus numbers remain very low in my area. I am not avoiding stores or shopping. I still am going to Aldi’s and Walgreens for instance.
I like doing pickup at Walmart. The app shows what I’ve bought before. I can search for what I need, I find that the app serves as a list for me. I add things to my order as I see I’m running out of something. When it gets to I either need groceries or I have lots of things on the list, I make a pick up time.
I have never enjoyed grocery shopping. It’s always been a chore I try to put off. I like to buy my meat at a butcher and my produce at the farmers market (although those days are closing). I still do that. But shopping for toilet paper, spices and dairy, I’ll let someone else do that for me
I am lucky that we have Freshdirect and Amazon Fresh in NYC. Freshdirect doesn’t have a physical store, they only do home/business delivery. I have been using them for 5+ years. They are more expensive, but they have the freshest produce and meat. They don’t do substitution. Their website tells you if an item is out of stock before you check out. They are also very good at giving refund if you are not happy with an item. During the height of pandemic I had a weekly delivery slot with them.
I switch over to Amazon Fresh sometime because they are less expensive and they offer some items that I can’t find on Freshdirect.
I have ordered non perishable goods from Amazon/Target/Walmart. Target is the worst when it comes to packaging.
In NYC we also have minibar. I could get wine delivered in less than 2 hours. Most of the drug stores also deliver. What is better than this - getting drug and alcohol delivered.
When we’re with FIL (92, one lung, heart issues), yes. We’re limiting pretty much everything other than take out food, curbside pick up from Lowes, the Pharmacy, and Walmart. He still goes to his doctor’s appointments (heart, family doctor, and due to a recent fall, orthopedics). I believe they had to gas up the car once too.
Neither H nor I could live with ourselves if we brought Covid to him.
BIL (FIL’s other son) no longer cares about Covid at all and there have been a few cases in the building where he works. Unfortunately, he also comes to visit FIL and use the cottage on the river, esp on weekends and he invites the neighbors who also work and go to school (kids) over to socialize. H is livid, but can’t do anything about it. We suspect BIL is actually hoping FIL gets it as BIL will inherit quite a bit.
We have to settle for, “not from us.”
At home I still go grocery shopping, but we really don’t care to do anything else trying to take chances. Our house/kids/farm/take out gives us plenty of entertainment and things to do. We don’t feel we’re missing out on anything other than longer distance traveling.
I have wondered if some (whatever %) people who are sold on online shopping are also people who didn’t like the grocery experience in the first place.
I don’t mind grocery shopping at all. Don’t love the unpacking process, but I like choosing things in the store. I loved playing “store” as a kid and when I got my first apt in college and started grocery shopping on my own I was so excited.
We have had great success with online grocery shopping at Costco via Instacart and Amazon for incidental stuff and we purchased the curbside delivery CSA from one of our local farms. Costco/Instacart lets you pre-specify substitutions (or say no substitution). The shoppers text me if there is an issue (though I am often busy working so I don’t always notice the texts). Other things like barbecue sauce or ketchup or Szechuan pepper corns or Chinese rice cooking wine or fermented black beans etc. come from Amazon (we might have gone to HMart or another Asian store for these in the past). Our CSA has been very good.
ShawWife hates shopping so I have done the grocery shopping for years, largely at Costco plus local farms (there are 13 in our town and ShawWife loves to go there and schmooze with the farmers/staff).
In the last couple of weeks, I had a laser eye surgery and a follow-up visit at a medical center across the street from Costco, so we have gone in for the first time since early March of late February. I prefer going there as I was able to buy rambutans and a few other things that I don’t think are available via InstaCart. The first time we went was early in the morning and the store was absolutely empty. The second time was mid-day and there were a lot more people there. We’ll go early in the morning from now on. In a non-COVID world, I would usually prefer to shop myself. But, it is awfully convenient for the food to just come to us (although at a price in terms of higher markup and tip).
It’s a good thing we have a couple of extra bottles here already.