# So, are you having your groceries delivered yet? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 16, 2019, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233 "2019-03-16T19:37:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/21 "2019-03-17T02:04:36Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I like grocery shopping, but how much is the charge to have them delivered? Peapod is something like eight bucks. They also typically have discounts for certain days and/or times. Our next delivery is between 4 & 10 tomorrow, a time frame which saves two bucks. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/22 "2019-03-17T03:11:53Z")
The main reason for delivery is for people who don’t drive. It’s hard to carry a bunch of stuff to and from the store, especially bulky items. If you’re buying paper towels and beer, there’s not much more you can carry in a single trip. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/23 "2019-03-17T04:59:19Z")
Add me to the “I like grocery shopping” group. My friends joke that they like to go shopping on my pantry shelves, because I tend to try out new stuff I find in the store. But I can see grocery delivery being the best thing ever, if I had kids. I have no idea how people with 2 or more young kids ever manage to get through a full shopping trip, without either the kids or the parent throwing a tantrum. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/24 "2019-03-17T05:27:06Z")
I work at a grocery store, so having my groceries delivered would just be inefficient. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/25 "2019-03-17T05:30:07Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I like grocery shopping, but how much is the charge to have them delivered? > > Picking everything off a shelf, then driving it to your house must cost $10-20. If you’re buying $100 of groceries that isn’t bad. But if you’re buying less that would add up. Hy-Vee, in the upper Midwest, does it for free if you order $75 or more. IDK what they charge if it’s less than that. I have no desire to do this, but if I found myself unable to drive and didn’t have someone else who could take me to the store, I might consider it. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/26 "2019-03-17T06:37:28Z")
I’ve been digging Kroger’s curbside pick up. My only complaint is, you have to schedule when to pick up. So if you order something in the early morning. The earliest you can pick it up is 3pm. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/27 "2019-03-17T06:47:21Z")
I am, from Albertsons, using InstaCart. [Interestingly, non-members can shop Costco same-day delivery if they pay a higher price for groceries.](https://www.costco.com/costco-grocery-faq.html) I haven’t tried this yet. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/28 "2019-03-17T08:15:36Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > The main reason for delivery is for people who don’t drive. It’s hard to carry a bunch of stuff to and from the store, especially bulky items. If you’re buying paper towels and beer, there’s not much more you can carry in a single trip. You might think so, but my store’s home delivery shoppers also work for moms with lots of young kids and a couple businesses - we have a local daycare that uses the delivery service, their order usually starts with 60 gallons of milk and continues with similar large amounts of things like cereal, toddler-type food, and cleaning supplies. Also a few people who have the sort of high-paying, time-consuming jobs that leave little time for shopping. The customers are more varied than you might expect. Some of the shoppers/deliverers really hustle. We have a couple gals who do it full-time, 40 hours a week type amounts of time. (Our store uses a third party, sort of like Uber for groceries, rather than directly employing people for this.) ---
**Author:** ![gvntofly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@gvntofly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gvntofly)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/29 "2019-03-17T09:20:10Z")
I’ve been doing pickup at a national chain since it began offering it here about two years ago. I thought the same thing about the produce – that I wouldn’t like what they picked out for me – but it’s never happened. Then about a year ago a few local and regional stores began offering equivalents but I never tried them because either the cost for their products or the cost of the pick up was so much more than the national chain. Around that time delivery started as an option at the national chain. It does cost around $10 where I live to have the groceries delivered. But in my personal situation it’s well worth the cost. This is how I do my normal grocery shopping now every week. I go online I have a running list there so as the two weeks between my paychecks go by I can just go on my phone and add items as I see we need them. Then I schedule a time and pay on Friday when my direct deposit hits. The advice I’d give is: 1. To make sure you know the substitution rules. What will happen in a substitution is required situation? Different stores have different rules. 2. To make sure you understand how they will take your money. Meaning, if you use a debit card will they put a hold on it and will that process at Point of Sale? Meaning when you say place order on your phone. Or will it happen when you pick up your groceries/when the groceries are delivered? Its important to know this because you don’t want the hold put on more than once and if this were to ever happen you need to have a phone number to call so the holds can be removed. This happened to me only once in the last two years. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/30 "2019-03-17T11:45:34Z")
I live in the UK. My local supermarket (Tesco) have delivered my weekly grocery shopping for several years now. I order online and get confirmation e-mails. They offer delivery times divided into one hour slots throughout the week and will contact me if they are running late (that only happened once - and it was just a 15 minute delay.) The driver will carry the groceries into my kitchen and help me unpack. I buy about £60 ($80) worth of stuff a week and they charge £4 ($5) for that. The supermarket offer vouchers regularly, which save me about £10 ($13) a month. It really suits me and the produce is fine. If I want some special meat (e.g. sirloin steak 🆒 ), I walk to the local butchers. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/31 "2019-03-17T12:01:26Z")
I’ve tried it - mainly as a test for my mother who is elderly and becoming less mobile - and it’s great for when you’re ill or infirm. I don’t do it myself because the supermarket has a butchery counter and they cut me steaks the way I like them. And it gets me out of the house. I actually did a cost analysis and if you get one of the cheaper delivery slots it’s actually cheaper to have a delivery than go there. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/32 "2019-03-17T12:03:26Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > The main reason for delivery is for people who don’t drive. Ah, Americans… :p:) In Spain most of the people I see asking for delivery of goods they’ve picked up at the store are elderly; according to a friend who’s a supermarket manager, two other big groups are restaurants (which are also likely to order fish or meat by phone and if what you deliver isn’t exactly what they asked for, may insert it sideways in a hole you didn’t want used that way) and people organizing a big party (Christmas and Easter see lots of preordering for this purpose, as well). ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/33 "2019-03-17T12:17:04Z")
Oh yes, substitutions. The bane of deliveries. The substitutions I’ve been offered have been universally stupid. No, a lasagne for four is not a good substitution for a lasagne for two; try another pasta dish of the same size or moussaka. No, brown bread is not a good substitution for granary bread; try multi-grain. No, rump steak is not a good substitute for sirloin; try rib-eye. No, broccoli quiche is not a good substitute for Mediterranean Vegetable quiche; \ And expiry dates. No, IME they don’t deliberately choose the shortest but they don’t bother to look for the longest either; they’ll just take the first. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/34 "2019-03-17T12:17:26Z")
My Mom did for a while (she’s home bound and does not drive anymore), but they have stopped the service in Denver. She now orders online and I go pick it up for her. That saves me from having to do the shopping part. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/35 "2019-03-17T12:32:04Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I actually like grocery shopping! I can’t imagine not being able to pick out my own food. This. I can’t imagine, for instance, buying “bread”. I need to walk up and down the bread aisle, then the bakery area, before deciding what bread product(s) I want to buy. Additionally, I do not make a list, really, other than items we are out of and definitely need, for instance “Sriracha”. If I stop at Giant Eagle for Sriracha, I’ll end up noticing they have nice looking swordfish, so I’ll grab two steaks then decide what I want to serve with that and pick up what I need. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/36 "2019-03-17T12:51:23Z")
It wouldn’t suit me at all. I have an Aldi 10 minutes walk from home and it probably only takes me 20 minutes to walk to and from a shopping center with a supermarket in it. Since I live alone I haven’t used a shopping trolley for about 20 years, I only buy what I can carry. And I can do with the exercise. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/37 "2019-03-17T13:04:06Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Oh yes, substitutions. The bane of deliveries. The substitutions I’ve been offered have been universally stupid. No, a lasagne for four is not a good substitution for a lasagne for two; try another pasta dish of the same size or moussaka. No, brown bread is not a good substitution for granary bread; try multi-grain. No, rump steak is not a good substitute for sirloin; try rib-eye. No, broccoli quiche is not a good substitute for Mediterranean Vegetable quiche; \ No, decaf is not a good substitute for coffee. What were they _thinking_ :smack:? I get my shopping delivered at the start of each month - frozen food, cupboard items, toiletries, and whatever fresh produce I’ll need over the next few days/week. It works out well for me. I don’t really cook very much, my boyfriend usually does when he comes to stay with me 2-4 nights a week, and he’s happy to do the shopping himself for the things he’ll need. As a non-driver this saves me a lot of hassle in terms of time and carrying heavy bags. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/38 "2019-03-17T13:21:59Z")
Not interested. Shopping is fun, and ordering online means you miss great things that you didn’t know existed. You also can pick what you want: what someone else thinks is a ripe banana, might not be what I think is one. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/39 "2019-03-17T13:35:48Z")
I don’t think delivery is available where I live, but I never looked into it because I doubt that I’d use the service. Sometimes I don’t know that I want or need something till I see it in the store. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233/40 "2019-03-17T14:17:52Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Hy-Vee, in the upper Midwest, does it for free if you order $75 or more. IDK what they charge if it’s less than that. > > I have no desire to do this, but if I found myself unable to drive and didn’t have someone else who could take me to the store, I might consider it. My brother lives near a hy-vee and is short on free time. I’ll let him and his wife know, they could probably use this. Thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-are-you-having-your-groceries-delivered-yet/831233.md?page=3)