And, the supermarket retailer plans to install the service at more stores, I was told in an email this week.
“At this stage, we are preparing to roll out online shopping to additional stores and are actively seeking customer feedback so that we can perfect the process and customer experience,” said Kroger spokeswoman Jennifer Lien. She didn’t specify an exact date for the roll out.
Earlier this month, an email invitation to test out the store’s online shopping for free landed in my inbox.
Many people I know dread the thought of weekly grocery shopping. While I don’t always fall into that category (especially if I have time to venture out to a local farmer’s market or to try out a place I’ve never been to), I do feel as if I spend an unjustifiable amount of my life inside the walls of a shopping market. Given that I work in extremely close proximity to a Kroger, I often find myself grabbing a deli sandwich there for lunch or trekking there near daily to pick up whatever item I forgot the last time I visited.
So, for that reason — and being the millennial that I am — I embraced the idea of a Sunday morning spent picking out this week’s purchases from the comfort of my couch, still in my pajamas and with a cup of coffee in hand.
Here’s what I learned from the experience:
THE GOOD
- Surprisingly, I saved a lot of money — about $40 — through online shopping. Against the advice of every extreme couponer in America, I never keep track of how much I'm spending at the store. One time, I kept a calculator handy at the store but failed miserably (there's a reason I'm a journalist, not a mathematician). Mostly, I stand at the cash register, biting my nails and hoping I didn't break the bank. But the online shopping website tallies up your total for you as you go. It made me more conscious of my budget. It probably helped, too, that since I wasn't physically in the store my wandering eye wasn't tempted by things not on my list, like a pint of Graeter's.
- One of the things I was worried about with online shopping is that I wouldn't be able to pick out exactly what I wanted. The online shopping tool, however, let me write notes about each of the items I ordered. So, for example, I specified that I wanted between .75 lbs to 1lb of packaged chicken.
- Some things that are normally out of stock on a busy Sunday were back in stock by the time I picked up my order Monday. I can almost never find a bag of frozen edamame on Sundays. But there it was in my bag Monday evening when I picked up my order.
- The experience was super convenient. That's obviously the main draw of this service. I didn't spend an hour of my life in a grocery store. I didn't spend time fighting for a parking spot in the crowded lot. I didn't have to track down an associate to ask when the spaghetti squash would be re-stocked or wondering if I overlooked the aisle with the pizza sauce. I selected an hour time slot to pick up my groceries Monday from the Liberty Twp. location, and when I arrived the groceries were loaded up in my trunk then I was on my way home about five minutes later.
THE NOT-SO-GOOD
- You're probably still going to have to make a trip to the store. I wasn't able to order blueberries, living lettuce or the type of pineapple I normally purchase. A few other dry items, too, seemed unavailable. I asked Kroger about this and they told me they're actively seeking feedback on improvements they can make to the system before rolling it out.
- Some things were still out of stock. It would be great if Kroger could alert you before you arrive to pick up your groceries what you're not going to get so you could chose a replacement ahead of time. The website does give you an option to allow the employees to automatically replace out-of-stock items with a similar product, but I declined.
- I didn't like not being able to pick out some of my own products, especially meat. When I picked up the chicken, for example, I didn't have enough but I got too much pork. It ended up working out just fine for the week. but I learned I like to pick out some stuff myself.
- Make a list. I started aimlessly searching for what products were available on the site because I had never used it before. I realized halfway through this was not a good idea. I would recommend making a list, as if you were physically going to the store.
My first online order was free, but according to Kroger’s website the service will typically cost $4.95.
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