Grocery Pick Up Service

[harllee]

As DH and I age we are trying to find ways to simplify things like grocery shopping. Personally I dislike grocery shopping--stores too crowded, aisles filled with boxes, screaming kids, long check out lines, etc. So I have been trying the grocery pick up services where you send in your order online and then pick up your groceries at a predesignated time and then the grocery staff loads your groceries in the car. I have tried several different grocery stores pick up services and in my opinion Walmart is hands down the best. I highly recommend the Walmart grocery pick up service--it is saving me substantial time and money.

If your order $30 or more in groceries the Walmart pick up service is free. The Walmart selection is good (you can also buy wine and beer) , the website works well, the pick up is very efficient and the Walmart cost is significantly less than other stores in my area. So far I have been very pleased. I have ordered all sorts of canned goods, paper products, pharmacy items, bread, wine, frozen foods, deli and bakery items, produce (very pleased with the produce) and even some items that had to come from the non grocery section of Walmart (like some office supplies). I have not ordered any meat products other than bacon and sausage yet but I am going to give the meat a try.

 

[Hermit]

Our local Kroger (City Market) grocer put in about 5 pickup parking spaces since the last time I was in town. Walmart is on the other side of town about 4 miles on down the road. I may try one of these.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Locally our Walmart has higher prices and the quality of the meat is low so we shop at Winco. A friend of mine in Texas has a much better experience with them. If my husband gets so he can’t grocery shop then I would look into it.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

I mostly prefer to go grocery shopping very early and pick my own, but have used Amazon Fresh pickup a number of times. Gotten some good bargains from there and since it is conveniently nearby and I get 5% cash back on my Prime card, it is a nice alternative. All the groceries around here deliver as well. Well, not Trader Joe's.

 

[Moemg]

We have used Instacart at Publix 's. The produce and meat have been outstanding .They call if any substitutions are needed and deliver to the door at our selected time.

 

[aja8888]

Walmart here.....it's been great and consistent.

 

[Katsmeow]

I have thought about it but the pickup service seemed to me to have the least benefits.

Buying and picking up stuff yourself -- The advantages is that it is least expensive and you can see what you are getting and choose it (particularly important with produce). Also, there may be something that you see on sale in the store that is something you regularly buy but didn't have on your shopping list. You wouldn't necessarily notice that ordering online. Disadvantage -- Time/effort involved in shopping.

Ordering online and having delivered -- Biggest advantage is that you don't have to leave your house. Disadvantage -- Delivery can be very expensive. You are limited to what you thought to order and you may miss sales that you would see in the store. I have looked online at Amazon Fresh. The food seems insanely expensive. Nothing is on sale. It appears to be sort of like looking for the most expensive store and only buying things that aren't on sale. Maybe I'm missing something but I can't imagine using it unless I had a medical condition that kept me from going to the store. I guess you could get individual sales by not using Amazon Fresh and having the specific store deliver, but it is hard for me to justify the delivery charge when I have multiple grocery stores less than 10 minutes away.

Ordering online and picking up - I guess it is better than delivery because you avoid a delivery charge. But on the negative side -- you still have to get dressed, get in the car drive there, let the store know you are there, wait for them to load the stuff, drive home and unload the car. And, you can get none of the advantages of going in the store yourself. It just seems to lack most of the advantages of doing your own shopping and doesn't have most of the advantages of delivery. Obviously many people like it and maybe I am not looking at it correctly but every time I think about it I end up back at this point.

 

[GravitySucks]

I actually enjoy grocery shopping. Wegmans and the nearest Aldi's are always clean, well lit and the employees top shelf. My local WalMart is a nightmare.

Wandering the produce and meat displays is how I pick what I'll be eating. DGF gets alot of home delivery but she has a busier life than I. I'm unemployable and have no little ones around.

 

[street]

So, do you go online and do your grocery shopping then it gives you a time to pick it up? How does this work??

 

[aja8888]

So, do you go online and do your grocery shopping then it gives you a time to pick it up? How does this work??

Do online on WM's great website. Pick a date and time to pick it up.

They will text you when the order is ready for pickup (at prescribed hour). Go there, get order loaded in car. I've done this dozens of times with no issues. Besides,if you need other things besides "groceries", like from the drug section,they pull those too.

I pay by CC after I place the order. Any changes, they discuss with you at pickup (rare).

 

[gtweath]

I actually LIKE to grocery shop...I would never use a delivery service except for dry goods maybe, and would never use an order and pick up service.

 

[RobbieB]

If I was having someone fill the list I'd have them deliver it too.

 

[aja8888]

If I was having someone fill the list I'd have them deliver it too.

That is possible with some stores. We use WM where it is not done and that's OK with me since the store is one mile from our house.

 

[street]

Do online on WM's great website. Pick a date and time to pick it up.

They will text you when the order is ready for pickup (at prescribed hour). Go there, get order loaded in car. I've done this dozens of times with no issues. Besides,if you need other things besides "groceries", like from the drug section,they pull those too.

I pay by CC after I place the order. Any changes, they discuss with you at pickup (rare).

Thanks!
I live so remotely and small stores here don't offer such a thing. I do remember when I was growing up the small town grocery would deliver grocery to many of older folks in town. You would see the old grocery truck late in afternoons each day.

 

[ATX78701]

My grocery store HEB sometimes offers special coupons on items that I buy, however, the coupons are located on the shelf or frozen food door. If you don’t grab the coupon, you miss the discount. Do the stores automatically honor such coupons if you are using their pickup service and aren’t going into the stores? I’m thinking probably not?

Curious as well, do you tip the person loading the car when you do pickup service?

 

[harllee]

My grocery store HEB sometimes offers special coupons on items that I buy, however, the coupons are located on the shelf or frozen food door. If you don’t grab the coupon, you miss the discount. Do the stores automatically honor such coupons if you are using their pickup service and aren’t going into the stores? I’m thinking probably not?

Curious as well, do you tip the person loading the car when you do pickup service?

OP here, I have not tried to use any coupons for the Walmart grocery pick up. I don't think Walmart itself issues coupons, I am not sure how you would use manufacture's coupons. The Walmart website says that tipping is not allowed.

 

[harllee]

If I was having someone fill the list I'd have them deliver it too.

OP here, I don't think the local Walmart delivers groceries. You can get deliveries from some local grocery stores using delivery services but it is pretty expensive. If I get sick or injured I would use a delivery service.

 

[harllee]

So, do you go online and do your grocery shopping then it gives you a time to pick it up? How does this work??

Op here, I did an order for pick up at Walmart yesterday. The website gave me a choice of pick up times with an hour window. I chose the pick up time I wanted. About 15 minutes before the pick up window I got an email that my order was ready. I texted through the app that I was on the way. They have about 8 pick up parking spots on the side of the building. When I got there I texted the spot I was in, the groceries were in my car in 5 minutes. There were 4 other cars there also doing pick up.

 

[harllee]

OP here, one nice feature of the Walmart pick up is that it lets you indicate whether you would take a substitute item. For some things I indicate I will take a substitute. So far I have gotten a few substitutes and they have always been for a more expensive item but I only paid for the less expensive item. For example I ordered a 3 pack of tooth floss. Walmart substituted a 4 pack of floss but I only had to pay for the 3 pack.

 

[REWahoo]

My grocery store HEB sometimes offers special coupons on items that I buy, however, the coupons are located on the shelf or frozen food door. If you don’t grab the coupon, you miss the discount. Do the stores automatically honor such coupons if you are using their pickup service and aren’t going into the stores? I’m thinking probably not?

HEB has online coupons you can digitally "clip" when placing an order for curbside pick up. https://www.heb.com/digital-coupon/coupon-selection

 

[harllee]

Those of you who like to grocery shop must not live at a place where the stores are always crowded. In my area I try to go during during the week mid morning and even then sometimes it is hard to find parking place and there is a long check out line (even for self check out). The other thing that drives me crazy is that the aisles are narrow and there always boxes of stuff waiting to be shelved blocking the aisles. I really dislike going into the grocery store. On the other hand I find filling out the ounline shopping order for a pick up to be fun. I can do the online order and drive to pick up the order in less than half the time than shopping in the store takes me and I am much less irritated.

 

[aja8888]

Those of you who like to grocery shop must not live at a place where the stores are always crowded. In my area I try to go during during the week mid morning and even then sometimes it is hard to find parking place and there is a long check out line (even for self check out). The other thing that drives me crazy is that the aisles are narrow and there always boxes of stuff waiting to be shelved blocking the aisles. I really dislike going into the grocery store. On the other hand I find filling out the ounline shopping order for a pick up to be fun. I can do the online order and drive to pick up the order in less than half the time than shopping in the store takes me and I am much less irritated.

I could have written this as it's the same for me.

 

[Dash man]

We have used Instacart at Publix 's. The produce and meat have been outstanding .They call if any substitutions are needed and deliver to the door at our selected time.

We had three instacart deliveries a few weeks ago from a grocery store about 14 miles away. We never ordered anything. After the first, we called the store to explain and they contacted Instacart. After the second we called Instacart directly and explained, and verified they understood. After the third we called our kids to come get some free groceries.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I actually enjoy grocery shopping. Wegmans and the nearest Aldi's are always clean, well lit and the employees top shelf. My local WalMart is a nightmare.

Wandering the produce and meat displays is how I pick what I'll be eating. DGF gets alot of home delivery but she has a busier life than I. I'm unemployable and have no little ones around.

+1

How do sales and coupons and loyalty cards work with these services? I plan my meals around such things. Because of loyalty rewards, we will get two free tanks of gas this month.

Also, reuseable bags aren’t compatible with these services.

Last, I live a mile from Wegmans. The past few weeks I’ve frequently walked there for exercise. Today I walked 3 miles round trip for some fresh produce. I saw a pair of bald eagles soaring overhead, and on the power line over the creek, a pair of small falcons were warming their toes.

I would have missed that with a grocery pickup service. If you’re too busy to shop or have mobility issues, such services can be a godsend, though.

 

[Clone]

Those of you who like to grocery shop must not live at a place where the stores are always crowded.

I have coined a term that I use now when shopping: The Walmart Effect. This is the uncanny ability of some people to strategically stop with their shopping carts such that they block aisles. Two individuals will stop at a large intersection of aisles and position themselves such that traffic in any direction is blocked! There is a grocery store close to us that is a bit small, and the aisles are narrow. It seems like if there are more than 10 customers in the store, the place will gridlock! We are ready to take that store off the list in favor of a larger store that is about 2 miles further away. I guess what I am looking for is a grocery store with aisles that are wide enough to drive an F150 down them without rubbing the mirrors. Back home, DW knows when the shipments come in, and the aisles will be partially blocked with cartons yet to be placed on shelves. We have not figured out the rhythm here at our winter place.