As someone who finds is straight up painful to walk aisles grocery shopping (or drive the hour plus- yes really- to find out of the ordinary ethnic foods) I can’t WAIT. I can go to my local store and get fresh meats and veg and use this service to buy the stuff that I normally have to drive to the store, put in the cart, unload to the belt, carry to the car, carry up the stairs. Which probably doesn’t sound like much but trust me when I say: It is. This is going to be great for people with disabilities, I can tell you that much (and obviously I don’t live anywhere near a place that delivers now or I’d be doing it)
I used to have a local grocery in NY where you submitted your grocery list online, they shopped, bagged and rang out the groceries and you just drove up and they loaded it into your car. That was beyond fantastic.
I just ordered a box of groceries for my son…he should get it tomorrow. He was unemployed for 9 months and unable to qualify for food assistance, so I have been sending him money for groceries. But he lives in a small town in Iowa, he currently can’t drive and the closest stores are convenience stores, so he’s been living on potatoes mostly. I had him go on the Amazon Prime Pantry site and pick out what he could use, then I went through and edited according to my budget. The prices were virtually identical to what I can get in the discount places I shop around here, and I didn’t quite fill the box before running out of money…and I got him nearly everything he wanted, including toothpaste and shampoo. The last time I purchased food and shipped it to him I could only afford a small box of canned goods and it cost me almost $30 to ship it. I consider the $5.99 to be a discount for being a Prime member and I’m fine with paying it…I could spend the extra $25 on food. When he gets his box I’ll let you know how he likes it. So far I’m pleased I didn’t have to pack and drag a 45lb. box in and out of my car. And now I know he’s not wasting my money on overpriced crap.
Oh, and he has a job finally!
Oh, and by paying for it by using gift cards I bought at the local Giant Eagle grocery store, I get 40 cents off per gallon of gas I buy this week, which just saved me $4, so that almost pays for the shipping!
One little hiccup with their delivery…it needed a signature and they wouldn’t leave it the first day, so he had to fill out a signature card to leave on the door, so he got it a day later.
We are Prime members and order our dog food off of Amazon prime since it’s cheaper than local. I see that Prime Pantry is starting to stack pet food, so I hope that our goods don’t get switched over to that as we enjoy the “free” 2 day shipping now.
I don’t think anyone around me does. To me, it sounds like they’re trying to run Peapod out of business or at least keep them in check to make until they [Amazon] decide what they’re doing.
Yes if you live in a large urban area there will be at least one supermarket which does.
The smaller the area the less likely it will be offered.
In terms of anywhere in the country, no. There you have Amazon and Walmart which offer a broad range of products, and a lot of specialty companies (for example food for survivalists). And Amazon as noted builds the shipping cost into the price of individual items (except for this Pantry offering).
I’m seriously considering this. It’s 50 miles r/t to the Big grocery store for gluten free items. I’d much rather order on-line, especially during our 9 months of winter and 3 of bad sledding, and let someone else do the driving. I hate grocery shopping, so having my food delivered means I’ll eat better and feel better. Meat, dairy and produce I can get at the local ridiculously priced grocery store.
I would be curious about that as well. Judging by the amount we ship and where its going as much city people as rural taking advantage and now with the “access” to delivered things through Whole Foods --------- and not that many of the rural folks are within the radius here but other places maybe. The dynamic of Amazon as a food store has seriously changed.
Jackie: Do some comparison shopping with the foods you usually buy. Whenever I have looked at Prime Pantry I find either Walmart.com or Target.com (with its 5% Redcard discount) as cheap. These offer free shipping (after minimum order size) and you don’t have to pay for a membership.
Even if you order online the problem is you still have to go to local stores for perishables.