Online Grocery Shopping

I've discovered the next best thing to picking
out sliced bread in person. Online grocery shopping.

I've been waiting for a local grocery to come up with an affordable and decent system, and one of our groceries, Farm Fresh, has done it. I've been shopping online for the past month, and it is a wonderful time and money saver. I just click, tell them what time I want to pick them up, go into the customer service counter and they have my order waiting for me (the cold stuff is in the back and they bring it out). They generally pick better produce than I select and will substitute items if I want that option.

Total time for a big weekend grocery shop is about 25 min. compared to about 1.5 hours in the store. If I spend over $150 the service is free. Under $150 and there's a $4.50 service charge (a small price for the convenience).

There are a few tips I've discovered about online grocery shopping that may help you venture into the virtual grocery aisle:

1. Make certain you recheck your list before clicking "complete order." Last time I ordered bananas, I accidentally clicked bananas, plantain. These are definitely NOT the same thing.
2. Know the weights of the products you want to buy. I ordered canned green beans. The 8 oz. size seemed right, but when I got them home they were the tiny cans (the regular size I found out is 14 oz.)
3. Don't be afraid to make notes about the products you want to help store personnel make selections for you. It helps you get what you really wanted.
4. If the store doesn't have what you want online, ask for it anyway. They are happy to sell extra products even if it isn't online.

Look to see if any of your local groceries offer this service. Most will also deliver to your house for an additional fee. I don't mind driving to the grocery when the entire roundtrip is only 15 min., but if I were sick I would certainly have the groceries delivered.
Happy shopping!