Most people are aware that grocery pick-up and delivery exists, but many people have never tried it. I’ve seen complaints online about how this is the death of face-to-face interaction or how this will result in people losing their jobs but I’m going to address both of those things.
First, either option (delivery or pick-up) requires face-to-face interaction, either with someone who comes to your door (delivery) or with the person who brings your order out to load into your vehicle (pick-up). I’ve never used the delivery option for two reasons, those being that there is a fee involved and one of my dogs gets very agitated and upset when strangers come to the door, and I don’t wish to put him in situations that make him anxious any more than is necessary. I do, however, use the pick-up option once a week and have very pleasant interactions with the store employees who help me load the groceries into my vehicle. They will load them without your help but when I’m physically able to assist I prefer to do so.
I am someone who would rather do one large shop for the week and then only make a trip to the store for 1 or 2 items during the week if we’ve run out of something, because grocery shopping is a task that is physically difficult for me much of the time. When you are physically able you probably don’t think about the amount of standing, walking, twisting, bending, reaching, lifting, etc. involved in grocery shopping but if you have chronic inflammation and pain you notice every movement involved in the process.
Every week I place one large order and reserve a time slot to pick it up. I pull into a designated spot during that time window, follow the directions on the sign in the spot (as you can see from the above picture I call the number and give the person who answers my name), and someone brings out my groceries within a few minutes. The cost of the groceries is added to my credit card via the online account I have created with Save-On Foods. Just like with the in-store shopping experience, you still earn points and you can redeem your points in the online checkout or save them.
I tend to be chatty with the people who bring the groceries to my vehicle so I asked one of the young women what the experience was like from her perspective. She told me she loves it because her job is to go around the store and shop for other people much of the day, and that she enjoys that even more than some of the other parts of her job. If the service did not exist, she’d be doing those “other parts of her job” all the time. This is a win-win service, as far as I’m concerned. Someone has to shop for you and the items still have to be scanned through the till so no one is losing their job over this service.
A couple of additional things that may be of interest are as follows:
- When I’ve told friends that I use this service, one of the most common responses I get is something along the lines of “I would be concerned about my produce. I want to pick the best!” and I have to tell you that I’ve been really happy with the produce that has been selected for us, to the point that there isn’t anything I would change. I’m not getting bruised apples, or mushy grapes, or anything like that.
- If you like something a specific way (for example, we prefer our bananas on the green side) every single cart item in the online checkout has a space for you to leave a note for the person who will be shopping for you. So far, every note I’ve left has been honoured.
- You can check a box to indicate where you wish to allow substitutions. I always check the box to allow it, but if there is a specific item that I would only want substituted for another specific item then I can make an individual note on that item. Also, substitutions have always worked out in my favour. By that I mean, sometimes I’ll buy a Western Family item because it is cheaper or I’ll buy an item on sale, but they might have run out of that item. Each time, they’ve replaced it with a nearly identical item from another brand that is more expensive or not on sale, but they’ll do a price adjust so that I get it at the price of the item that was no longer in stock. For example, this week my order included some Western Family pretzels that were on sale, but they had run out so they gave me name brand pretzels at the same price.
- The amount charged to your credit card will reflect the prices of the items on the day that you pick them up, rather than on the day that you place the order. Keep that in mind, since it means items you thought you were getting at the sale price might have gone up on the day you pick them up. I’m not sure if the week runs that same at all stores but at my usual location the prices run from Friday to Thursday. So, if I place my online order on Thursday and apples are on sale that day but I pick up my order the next day, on Friday, then I’m going to be charged the regular price rather than the sale price. For that reason, I just never schedule my grocery pick-ups on Friday.
From what I can tell when I do go into the stores, there is no discernible difference in the number of customers in the store but having this option available means so much to people who use it, whether just occasionally due to convenience or because mobility makes shopping a nearly unbearable chore. No one is suggesting that everyone should or must shop this way, but having choices means that more people can have their needs met and I see that as a very good thing.