It appears we are getting lazier by the minute. As the internet has afforded many advances in online shopping and ordering, we as consumers have come to expect more of our brick and mortar retailers. And they are listening…
Grocery shopping is not always the most exciting task, I’ll admit it. For those who think it would be great to order online and just pull up to the store to have the items placed in your trunk, you’re in luck!
Kroger and Walmart are testing this very service at some of their locations. It’s like Peapod amplified – customers can order online, set up a pick up time (at no additional cost), and have the groceries brought to the car. It’s that simple!
This is very similar to Peapod, but allows even more convenience for customers:
- Because you can order on the go and pick up within an hour in most cases, it caters to the person “on the go” – a parent, for example, who is waiting at their child’s practice can easily place an order and swing by to pick up the groceries on the way home. Same for working customers – place the order in the morning and pick it up after work, saving time walking the aisles and waiting in line at the register.
- Peapod is efficient, and it’s sometimes nicer to have groceries delivered right to the door. However, the delivery fees can be costly; pick up services are available at no cost at Walmart and Kroger.
- While some customers may not like the “inconvenience” of going to the store to pick up their groceries, Peapod may be a better choice. However, for those who are on the go or find it difficult to schedule a delivery time when they’ll be home, this newest form of online grocery shopping might be best.
I think that, if this rolls out to the majority of Kroger and/or Walmart stores, it could be successful and potentially overshadow Peapod – we’ve seen the grocery (and big box retail industry) move from traditional shopping, to online shopping, to online/pickup in store, to this most recent online/pick up in the parking lot. It would not surprise me if this was the way of the future for some grocery shoppers. Time will tell, and it will be interesting to watch what happens.
