Pea-n-Me
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2004
I've been doing online grocery shopping for a while now. I started doing it for my elderly mother when she stopped driving, and in the winter if walking conditions outside were bad with snow and ice after she'd had a fall, etc. It's worked out really well so I started to use it myself sometimes if I'm busy, although I usually enjoy shopping when I have time. This store is interesting because besides delivery, they have a pick-up option where you go by and pick your order up yourself - at your convenience, ie no waiting around at home for delivery (which is something I really dislike). You do set up a general time ahead of time, but they keep your perishables refrigerated and frozen until you get there. (Just once they forgot to give me my frozen items and I had to go back.) You also have a "personal shopper" who gets to know you and your preferences, as there is room for notations on each item, and they'll call to talk if they have any questions at all or are out of something and have to substitute, etc. Turn around time is about three or four hours unless they're super busy it could be longer. They also have a "favorites" list on set up so you can easily go through and order things you usually get and you can also shop sale items or write in requests. The fee is nominal ($7) so I think it's a pretty good system. Years ago we had an old-style milk truck deliver items to our house as well. They provided us with a cooler for our front porch and they would leave our items there (you could get basics like eggs, butter, juice, bread and such besides milk) at an agreed-upon time each week, and everything stayed nice and cold. So yes, the concept of getting groceries in unconventional ways isn't exactly new.
I wish I could find the original article that prompted this thread. When I looked I couldn't find it again as there were lots of new articles out about it, and theories as to why this made sense for the companies and how it might be going forward. But basically what they were saying is that they think the future *is* online ordering, and how they think it will work out well for both companies. Whole Foods hasn't been doing too well in the past few years and they were looking for a buyer. Amazon was very interested not only in their brand, but their locations, which are often in urban and wealthier areas. If I find it again I'll add it to the OP. But good discussion! It's interesting to hear what's important to people and how they manage their grocery shopping.
I'm aware of the "whole paycheck" reputation of Whole Foods. As a matter of fact, we liked to go in for a bite to eat sometimes and we'd get a kick out of watching people go through the registers and say, "How much??" for their two bags of groceries.
I shop at multiple places for different things so I make the rounds, and Whole Foods has some items I like to buy (shampoo and conditioner, a nail polish I liked, a chick pea salad, the big garbanzo beans at the antipasto bar, the cranberry walnut dinner rolls, to name a few). I also like their hot foods and find the stores offer a pleasant shopping experience, which I'm willing to pay a little more for. Put it this way - I worked in grocery stores in college and some of the behind the scenes things that go on there would make your hair stand on end, so I won't shop in a store that has a funny odor or where you can smell fish when you walk in the door, etc. Yuck. If I'm going to buy prepared foods I'd rather there be some oversight by people who actually know what they're doing and not just some high school kids or others who may not use proper food handling. (Although I know Whole Foods and other "better" stores have had their issues, too.) Whole Foods has commissaries where they make a lot of their items (not right in their stores which a lot of people think) and they hire food professionals to work there. Our local commissary did have some issues with listeria a couple of years ago which was a little scary, but I think those issues were taken care of (some were with the building itself) and I'm still careful about where I buy things. I am thinking if Amazon ships hot and cold foods they will have to figure out a way to maximize food safety and I'm sure they'll be able to do that given that the technlogy is available today and they have the resources to utilize them. It will be interesting to see what they have up their sleeves (I'm sure this has been at the drawing board for a long time) and how they operate going forward. I'm willing to give it a go!
I wish I could find the original article that prompted this thread. When I looked I couldn't find it again as there were lots of new articles out about it, and theories as to why this made sense for the companies and how it might be going forward. But basically what they were saying is that they think the future *is* online ordering, and how they think it will work out well for both companies. Whole Foods hasn't been doing too well in the past few years and they were looking for a buyer. Amazon was very interested not only in their brand, but their locations, which are often in urban and wealthier areas. If I find it again I'll add it to the OP. But good discussion! It's interesting to hear what's important to people and how they manage their grocery shopping.
I'm aware of the "whole paycheck" reputation of Whole Foods. As a matter of fact, we liked to go in for a bite to eat sometimes and we'd get a kick out of watching people go through the registers and say, "How much??" for their two bags of groceries.
I shop at multiple places for different things so I make the rounds, and Whole Foods has some items I like to buy (shampoo and conditioner, a nail polish I liked, a chick pea salad, the big garbanzo beans at the antipasto bar, the cranberry walnut dinner rolls, to name a few). I also like their hot foods and find the stores offer a pleasant shopping experience, which I'm willing to pay a little more for. Put it this way - I worked in grocery stores in college and some of the behind the scenes things that go on there would make your hair stand on end, so I won't shop in a store that has a funny odor or where you can smell fish when you walk in the door, etc. Yuck. If I'm going to buy prepared foods I'd rather there be some oversight by people who actually know what they're doing and not just some high school kids or others who may not use proper food handling. (Although I know Whole Foods and other "better" stores have had their issues, too.) Whole Foods has commissaries where they make a lot of their items (not right in their stores which a lot of people think) and they hire food professionals to work there. Our local commissary did have some issues with listeria a couple of years ago which was a little scary, but I think those issues were taken care of (some were with the building itself) and I'm still careful about where I buy things. I am thinking if Amazon ships hot and cold foods they will have to figure out a way to maximize food safety and I'm sure they'll be able to do that given that the technlogy is available today and they have the resources to utilize them. It will be interesting to see what they have up their sleeves (I'm sure this has been at the drawing board for a long time) and how they operate going forward. I'm willing to give it a go!
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