We’ve said it before—the world we live in is growing more and more connected. This includes even some of the most mundane tasks of everyday life, such as grocery shopping. Online grocery shopping was already growing in popularity and has become even more prevalent this year during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, according to Digital Commerce 360, online grocery sales have set numerous records since the coronavirus outbreak.
Here, we’ll discuss online grocery shopping and the conveniences it offers, not only during quarantining but also as life speeds back up to the normal we knew before.
Stores Offering Online Shopping
Stores offering online shopping isn’t new. Many stores have hosted shopping from their websites for years. In fact, they’ve been steadily working to improve their online shopping experiences to compete with online shopping giant Amazon.
However, shipping nonperishable items such as clothes, appliances and other household items from warehouses is quite different than shipping fresh food items. Plus, when it comes to grocery shopping, many people want to do business with companies they’re familiar with. For this reason, grocery stores found ways to enter the online shopping game through more unconventional ways such a curbside delivery and third-party delivery services.
Curbside Convenience
Many grocery stores such began offering the convenience of curbside pickup at select stores in the last couple of years. This convenience allows you to shop online and select the store you’d like to pick up your grocery order from on a certain date, at a certain time.
After submitting your online grocery order, employee shoppers fill your order from shelf stock in the store. When you arrive to pick up your order, you text the store to let them know you’re there, and an employee comes out to load your groceries into your car. Most stores charge a small fee for this service, which many consumers happily pay to have someone else do the shopping for them.
Grocery Delivery
Some stores also offer grocery delivery. The shopping process works much like curbside pickup, except you don’t have to leave your home at all—your groceries are delivered directly to your home. For stores that don’t offer delivery to your home, there’s third party services.
These third-party services work like Uber for grocery shopping. After you place your grocery order through their website or app, delivery assistants do your shopping and bring your pantry staples to your door. Some of these services even pick up and deliver items you need from retail stores or restaurant orders as well.
Have You Ventured into Online Grocery Shopping?
Whether because of the pandemic or just time-saving convenience, there’s no denying online grocery shopping is growing in popularity. And as everyday activities become more Internet-centered, your internet connection becomes even more important.
