Many people have grocery shop online and have done so for years. It is convenient, there is no temptation to buy what you don’t need, and scheduling delivery is fast and convenient.
In these times, this facility has taken on new prominence as people avoid exposures that they can control. It is easy to learn all the ways to grocery shop online. Let’s get started.
Who does delivery?
Some grocery stores have their own delivery service. Two popular examples are PeaPod, owned by Stop and Shop, and Amazon Fresh, owned by Amazon, who also owns Whole Foods.
Some local farms have online ordered and limited delivery, such as Oakdale Farms in Rehoboth, MA.
There are subscription services offering regular delivery of meals, meal prep ingredients, or imperfect vegetables. These offer various ways to indicate some preference, but they are not the same as writing out a grocery list.
Instacart is an example of an Uber like service where you designate the items you want and the stores you want them from and a person is assigned the task of gathering those items and delivering them to your house.
And finally, many items, especially non-perishables, can be ordered online from the manufacturer, a store or Amazon directly, with the items then shipped to your house via UPS or FedEx.
Services Summary
This list covers the nuances you need to learn to grocery shop online for a few of the services available:
- PeaPod – Stop and Shop, small markup from in store prices
- Amazon Fresh – Whole Foods, small markup from in store prices
- Local Farms – e.g. Oakdale Farms – Limited choices, very fresh
- Misfits Markets – Imperfect fruits and vegetables, no choice of box contents. Can choose weekly or bi-weekly, large or small, skip weeks
- Meal prep delivery services – there are so many choices, here is an article comparing some of them (from Real Simple)
- Instacart – Any local participating store, fastest delivery, highest cost because of personalization, shopper will call to ok substitutions
- Online e.g. Amazon.com – mostly good for non-perishables, paper products, canned goods