Notes and Thoughts on Grocery 2.0

We love these top ten lists, don’t we? It helps us create context as it relates to what otherwise might be hard to get our arms around. So here is a top 10 list of reasons to use Online Grocery solutions. Over the next few weeks we’ll provide details of each reason. We’ll then summarize at the end. So here’s the list of top 10 reasons to use Online Grocery:

1.) Saves Money
2.) Saves Time
3.) Relevance
4.) Builds Loyalty
5.) Personal Shoppers
6.) Convenience: Pickup or Delivery
7.) Make a List
8.) Email
9.) Relax
10.) It’s Fun!

In the coming weeks, let’s discuss each of these benefits to an Online Grocery solution.

Dave Dec

We just stumbled across a great post from a NJ blogger named Valerie who tried OGS for the first time. Thanks, Valerie, for the terrific review…frankly we couldn’t agree more!  She even snapped a great shot of the ShopRite from Home van (right) pulling up outside her house!

Gotta love her list of top reasons she’s an OGS fan…(drum roll please)

Here’s why I think ShopRite At Home rocks:

• I could shop in my pajamas. (I didn’t, but I could.)
• I didn’t have to leave the house to go to the store. No going out in the rain.
• I didn’t have to wait on any lines.
• I didn’t have to load the car with the groceries.
• I didn’t have to unload the car and carry any bags in.
• I didn’t have to nag RB or TJ to carry bags in.
• I got flowers. Well not just me – all first time customers get them.

It’s great to read about how OGS is making this busy mom’s life a bit easier…Thanks, Valerie!

-Alison

Those are the words that came out of my husband’s mouth on the first day of our recent family vacation. We were on a very long car ride from Vermont to Long Beach Island, New Jersey. The beach commute started on Friday evening and did not end until about 5PM on Saturday. When we arrived at our beach house, our shopping for the week was done.  How did we do it? Online Grocery Shopping!

At around 1PM on Saturday, we jumped off the Garden State Parkway, (Exit 135, to be exact) made a right into the Clark ShopRite parking lot and pulled into our own “Rock Star” parking spot reserved just for OGS shoppers. If I had a stop watch, I estimate the whole shopping experience was less than ten minutes (including the wrong turn out of the parking lot). We jumped back into the bumper-to-bumper traffic to the Shore. For the next hour all we could do is talk about how amazing it was that our grocery shopping was already done.

I doubted my personal shopper; even after she called me to substitute one whole wheat hotdog rolls for another brand, I still doubted her. As we unpacked the groceries, I panicked, “Where are the PINE NUTS? I need the PINE NUTS for the salad! I can’t believe they are not here!” Don’t panic my husband told me, they must be here somewhere. No, they were not. I searched through all the bags and there were no nuts. Perhaps, I should check the receipt…no nuts there. Perhaps, I should check my order…oh; I forgot to order the nuts. I didn’t need to doubt my personal shopper, I needed to doubt myself.

After we unpacked our bags and groceries from the car, we headed down to the beach with our kids to enjoy the afternoon surf. Meanwhile, my sister-in-law was running out to the store for her groceries. My husband and I chuckled. She asked me if I needed anything, to which I replied, “just pine nuts!” Two hours later she returned, somewhat drained from her trip, with about eight bags of groceries and my one jar of pine nuts. We were back from the beach by then.  I thanked her for my pine nuts.

My vacation ended when, on the car ride home, my husband reminded me that there was no food in the fridge at home. We decided to avoid the grocery store that night by going out for dinner. But while we are in the car, perhaps now would be a good time to put a list together. List together? I already did that! It is saved to my profile. Can’t I just press a button, place my order and pick up my groceries? If I had OGS in Vermont, the answer would be “YES!” But for now, my vacation is truly over. I think I will wait until tomorrow to go to the store.

A recent story on “This Week.com” highlighted MyWebGrocer’s client Buehler’s Fresh Foods for their online grocery shopping service.

A new location in Delaware is now offering the online shopping service and it has been more than well received:

Photo By By Ann Tormet/ThisWeek courtesy of ThisWeek.com

“As she loads groceries, Vance said she is often thanked by the customer.

‘They love it,’ Vance said. ‘They don’t like shopping.’

‘I had a lady who came in the other night all the way from Westerville,’ Conley added.

The first shopping experience is free, said Deb McKee, service and facilities manager of the Delaware Buehler’s. After that, the cost is $7.95 per order or $24.95 for unlimited shopping within a 30-day period.”

Finish the full story here

I looked up the meaning of relevance in the online version of the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The second definition was poignant: the ability (as of an information retrieval system) to retrieve material that satisfies the needs of the user. Of course I thought of Online Grocery Shopping (OGS.) How better to describe OGS. A way for users to retrieve grocery items using an online system. The first meaning was also interesting; practical and socially applicable. A practical set of tools to get what I really need – food – for what I really want – save time and money.

I thought of this because of my 16 year old son. He’s brilliant. He does not know the world without a cell phone or a computer. They are everyday appliances or tools. His generation doesn’t just use the Internet, they count on it. The same way I have counted on the grocery stores being open when I need, he and his buds don’t know why they would not be able to make purchases via the Internet whenever they want, especially food – ever see a group of 16 year old kids eat? Yikes!

Relevance. What are you doing to keep relevant for my son and his generation of Internet users, eaters, and shoppers?

Dave Dec