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Grocery Delivery--Target (US) and other options

maybe some day

Senior Member
Messages
775
Location
West coast
Hmm sounds intresting. My wife used the insta cart app a few times. Very convenient, but can be very expensive depending what was bought. Hopefully Target will keep the price in line.
 

Gemini

Senior Member
Messages
1,176
Location
East Coast USA
Heard on the news today that Target will deliver groceries for a $99 per year fee.

Grocery shopping delivery services are especially helpful, thanks for posting @Sushi.

On the East Coast the Stop&Shop grocery chain has an on-line Peapod Delivery Service that charges a $9.95 fee.
Very reliable, on-line software easy to use, I've used it for years.

The Foodtown grocery chain also has online shopping with customer pick-up in some stores, delivery in others I believe. The customer pick-up option has a $7.50 fee. Their on-line software is also easy to use.
 
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Lynn

Senior Member
Messages
366
Costco is starting to deliver in some areas too.

Unfortunately, Costco has a fairly dramatic price increase when you order online for delivery. It's the same higher price that Instacart charges but if you are a member and order from Costco.com there is not a delivery charge.
 

Pink

Senior Member
Messages
574
Location
Tri state area
The prices go up even for Costco members? I did not know that. It's not available yet in my area, but I was looking forward to trying it out, not realizing there's a price increase.
 

rel8ted

Senior Member
Messages
451
Location
Usa
The prices go up even for Costco members? I did not know that. It's not available yet in my area, but I was looking forward to trying it out, not realizing there's a price increase.
If you check their website, they come right out and tell you the prices are higher.

Toward the end of last summer, I pretty much gave up driving again (unless I have a fabulous day), so I have become very reliant on delivery and/or store pick-up. With the hubs working and in university, it's a life saver. I can order fresh things from a grocer near his job and have non perishables delivered. We don't have grocery delivery where we live, it's too small, but it's peaceful and I wouldn't trade that, at least while one of us is mobile.
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
Hmm sounds intresting. My wife used the insta cart app a few times. Very convenient, but can be very expensive depending what was bought.

I use Instacart, too, when not able to go to store and agree it can be very expensive with all the various service fees that they tack on!
 

CFS_for_19_years

Hoarder of biscuits
Messages
2,396
Location
USA
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/target-launches-same-day-delivery-n843441
The first stores to get the new service will be stores in Birmingham, Alabama and South Florida on February 1st. The next week the service will roll out to more locations in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. And by the end of 2018, the rest of the country
[...]
The new service will be offered in partnership with Shipt, an online grocery marketplace the retail giant acquired in December for $550 million. Customers can log into the Shipt app and purchase over 50,000 items from Target.
[...]
It's not just milk and bread either. The service will also deliver "essentials, home, electronics and other products." By the end of 2019, it will also include all Target's major product categories.
 

TenuousGrip

Senior Member
Messages
297
[I haven't seen this topic covered generally in quite a while]

Like many of you, I've been relying on grocery delivery service for years. Last November, the one I used (a regional organics provider) went out of business with about five hours notice. I went back to the local grocery chain.

The local grocery chain did a great job. The delivery driver was just that -- a delivery driver -- and was always thrilled with the couple dollar tip I gave him.

Then this chain canceled their in-house grocery delivery service in favor of a new partnership with Instacart.
I've now ordered twice from the Instacart site but I'm pretty sad.

While this isn't true of every single store that Instacart partners with, Instacart charges significantly more for items purchased through their site than the in-store prices we would get ourselves (or that I used to pay).

Recent news stories about Instacart say these cost increases are claimed to be "15%+" but can actually average 40 - 60% over retail or more.

This in addition to the $11.95 (in my case) delivery charge.

More than that, you no longer have a delivery driver -- equivalent to a retail counter salesperson (like you might at, say, Starbucks). You now have a 'personal shopper' who -- from what I understand -- expects to be tipped like a server at a restaurant -- 15-20%.

[To be fair, there is significant additional value that these shoppers can theoretically offer a customer. It just doesn't happen to be anything that matters much to me.]

It's very hard to calculate (unless I ordered the same thing week after week after week) but I am guessing that my total grocery bill will increase by anywhere from about 40% to perhaps as high as 75%.

I'm truly not sure what I'm going to do. This is one of the last major household responsibilities that I haven't had to shift to my wife (or find an alternative way to handle).

For much less money I can order groceries online and my wife could simply pick them up at the store after work. While this is better than putting the whole thing on her shoulders ... I still view it as a loss.

I haven't looked into it. Is this the future for all grocery delivery services -- something akin to the Uber model ?

For those of you that cannot shop for groceries yourselves ... how are you managing this ?

-----

https://newfoodeconomy.org/a-reddit-user-calculated-instacarts-markup-its-pretty-high/

A Reddit user in Boston last weekend got an accidental glimpse into Instacart’s markup practices when the grocery delivery service neglected to remove the original in-store receipt from the order. The difference between the in-store price and the Instacart total was 42.8 percent—and that’s before a $12 service fee, a $6 delivery fee, taxes, and tip.

http://shelftalk.net/instacarts-secret-markups-accidentally-disclosed/

http://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-vs-google-express-vs-amazon-prime-fresh-2016-3

http://www.supermarketnews.com/blog/how-instacarts-pricing-changes-impact-retailers

https://www.profitero.com/2016/02/a...icing-as-delivery-and-membership-fees-evolve/
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
Heard on the news today that Target will deliver groceries for a $99 per year fee. If you had a delivery once a week, that would not be much of a fee.
And they have a promotional offer of $49 per year. If you Google it you can put in your zip code and see if the delivery service is active in your area. Hope it could work for you.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
For those of you that cannot shop for groceries yourselves ... how are you managing this

not well. I have several issues over online shopping and having it delivered and so far that hasnt worked for me thou for several reasons they I've tried it a few times.

the issues i have with it are..

**groceries different to what Id ordered eg ordered a small roast of a certain weight but had this huge massive one come which I couldnt even put into my freezer causing it then to go off before I used it (it was to hard for me to cut it).

** they wont give a time they will come for me to be able to work around eg they just say morning or afternoon and Im regularly in bed on and off.

** I may be too unwell to get the door when they come

** The delivery guy wont bring the shopping inside and Im not always well enough to be dealing with it. Also of cause if im too unwell to be dealing with it they of cause cant put it away either.

** I forget things all the time eg delivery coming caused food stuff to be left outside all night and into the next day

** and there is all the issues I get with online ordering.. not being able to check well what is in products, the websites not having the carb amounts, the sites too overwhelming for me to use (too many pictures everywhere or struggling to find things things flashing or moving on the screen).

** One online order i did, my computer was hacked into and my money went overseas. This was terrible as due to my brain issues I usually cant prove Im me when I ring the bank as I often get the questions wrong cause i forget things eg "how much did you take out of your account when you last used it?" "where did you open your account?" I couldnt remember (I hate the questions the banks sometimes use to prove you are you, I even often get my age wrong). And this occassion where i got hacked into was no expection and I then couldnt deal with the bank re the hacked account

(I answered the questions wrong twice in row.. third time someone does this they wont talk to you any more on phone and they put a block onto your account due to then assuming someone is illegally trying to access it).

Due to the above. I need a support worker to take me shopping in my wheelchair. When that cant happen I go without food (up to 3 weeks at a time). Im not allowed to give money to my support workers and have them go and get it for me.
 

Gemini

Senior Member
Messages
1,176
Location
East Coast USA
[I haven't seen this topic covered generally in quite a while]

Then this chain canceled their in-house grocery delivery service in favor of a new partnership with Instacart.
I've now ordered twice from the Instacart site but I'm pretty sad.

For those of you that cannot shop for groceries yourselves ... how are you managing this ?

Our local Wegman's grocery store recently offered instrcart. Like you I was not pleased for the reasons you describe plus the personal shopper could not find the items on my special diet even though the store carries them.

Our Stop&Shop chain uses the Peapod Delivery Service for their online shopping service. I'm pleased with it.

@TenuousGrip there's more information on this recent thread:
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/target-us-to-deliver-groceries.58725/#post-969873

Edit: perhaps Moderator can merge the threads?
 
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TenuousGrip

Senior Member
Messages
297
And they have a promotional offer of $49 per year. If you Google it you can put in your zip code and see if the delivery service is active in your area. Hope it could work for you.

Thanks much, Sushi.

Target does, indeed, deliver in my area. They contract with Instacart and Shipt here. I'll have to try to get a sense of the pricing models.

I have to agree with instacart, the pricing structure sucks. Have a local Safeway? They do deliveries

Thanks much. In my area, Safeway is delivered via Instacart :-(

not well. I have several issues over online shopping and having it delivered and so far that hasnt worked for me thou for several reasons they I've tried it a few times.

the issues i have with it are..

Wow, Tania. I'm so sorry. No matter what challenge I'm trying to sort out ... it's never lost on me that others are having a much more difficult time with the same issues than I am. I hope your personal assistant is always a good solution for you (and that it gets better with time).

Our local Wegman's grocery store recently offered instrcart. Like you I was not pleased for the reasons you describe plus the personal shopper could not find the items on my special diet even though the store carries them.

Our Stop&Shop chain uses the Peapod Delivery Service for their online shopping service. I'm pleased with it.

@TenuousGrip there's more information on this recent thread:
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/target-us-to-deliver-groceries.58725/#post-969873

Edit: perhaps Moderator can merge the threads?

No Peapod around here ... yet.

I'd lost track of that Target thread but, in reviewing it just now, I think you're right. Merging these threads makes sense. @Sushi ?

Costco in my area has also hooked up with Instacart and says Instacart's prices will be higher than Costco's in-store prices.

There's really zero visibility into this kind of pricing unless you truly have a sense of what things usually cost in your local store. It's like that whole boiling frog meme -- businesses will tend to consistently test higher prices to see how much profit they lose (as price-sensitive customers stop buying certain products or shopping at their store) as they raise prices. And many of us won't notice until our groceries become unaffordable.
 

NilaJones

Senior Member
Messages
647
Tania, I am sorry you are having such a crappy time :(.

Something that I have done in different locations is hire people off of Craigslist 'gigs' section.

You will find people advertising errand running and similar, although they usually ask pie in the sky prices. I find it is better to place my own ad, listing what I am able to pay.

I have never had a bad experience doing this, although I take precautions such as interviewing a person over the phone before meeting them.

For payment, it depends on what I'm getting. If just a few things, I called the store and ask if I can pay by credit card over the phone. Then the Craigslist person just picks up the order and doesn't have to handle any money.

For larger orders, I give them my food stamp card, and/or a credit card with a very low credit limit. After the first time or two that they shop for me, I might call the card companies and confirm the charges. But again, I have never had a bad experience.

Another option is to write a blank check to the store and hand write, below the line for the dollar amount, 'not valid over $50', or whatever amount is suitable.

--

I also order a lot of stuff online. All my big box store stuff. And Jet.com has all the non-perishable grocery items. When I was in a bad situation last year, I lived for three months off of Jet. Toilet paper, cat food, canned food for me, vitamins, everything.

When I am in a big city where Safeway / Vons delivers, that is a great deal. About 8 bucks per delivery, and it includes perishables.

@Sushi, thank you so much for posting.