Early Retirement Extreme Forums

There is some debate as to whether getting food shopping delivered to your house is cheaper than going there yourself, picking up the food and taking it home. You do incur a delivery charge, but you don't have to pay for the car costs and/or bus fares to and from the supermarket. If you only use the car for food shopping you could then dispense with the car altogether. But if you would have walked or cycled to the supermarket obviously that doesn't apply. However, some people say by shopping online and using home delivery you avoid buying extra items you would have been tempted to buy had you been in the supermarket.

Any thoughts?

Run the numbers. There is no guarantee that a retailer is using rational pricing. It could be a loss leader, it could be a pricing error. Prices can change so you have to check every time.

I daydream about doing this at times, but have never actually done it. It isn't cheaper than Aldi, which is right up the road, so laziness would be my only reason. Many of our neighbors are elderly, however, and they have their groceries delivered regularly.

My parents and sister order all their dry grocery items through Amazon (Prime). They swear it's better/cheaper.

radamfi wrote:However, some people say by shopping online and using home delivery you avoid buying extra items you would have been tempted to buy had you been in the supermarket.

Any thoughts?

Stronger resistance to temptation fixes that problem.
As for the central question, it all depends on you individual circumstances--are you always driving, how far away is the market, and so on.
There's a sustainability issue too. Does it use less energy to have stuff delivered or go get it yourself (presumably not driving). I think that's something called the problem of the last mile.

This is my 2nd favourite invention/discovery after the internet.

I HATE THE WASTE OF TIME AND ENERGY spent on grocery shopping.

My DH wouldn't be caught dead in a supermarket pushing a grocery trolley,so bring on grocery home delivery I say.

Think about how many times you have to handle each individual item:from the shelf into the basket,from the basket onto the counter/check-out,from the check-out back into bag,into car/bike,out of bag into press.

Definitely a waste of time/energy.

I have the same "favourites" list every week and have my shopping done in 10 mins online.

When the van drops them off all 4 of us put them away in about another 10 mins.

The van driver often says"I hope everything is OK for you" and I always reply,"As long as I don't have to get them myself they are perfect".

I think they think I am the sweetest customer around,as I never complain-why would I?,as a full-time worker never having to waste my precious free time having to enter a grocery shop.

I'm curious, how much additional packaging comes with all the stuff brought by the delivery truck? Is it one big box with everything you bought online in it, or a multitude of individual boxes and plastic for each individual item bought?

It would probably ultimately be a lot cheaper for me, because I'll go to the grocery store with a list of 5 things and come home with 8 bags of groceries. Having it delivered would force me to only get what was on my list and eliminate impulse purchases.

I think it would be problematic for fresh fruit & produce & meat?
"I wanted 3 tomatoes that are ripe and 3 that are somewhat green"
"Your watermelon thumper needs to be recalibrated or are all your melons mush?"
"Do you know the difference between lean, marbled, & loaded with unchewable gristle?"

Aren't you expected to tip the driver? I feel like that would outweigh any potential cost savings.

I hope they don't leave it at the door if I'm not home. Hell on the ice cream and popsicles.

I did Peapod for a couple years in the suburbs with no car. Food prices are double to triple that of aldi, on top of the delivery fee and tip. Quality is great, service is great. You pay for it though.

Frozen stuff is left in a cooler packed in dry ice. No problem leaving it outside for a couple hours.

Wow, and then you have dry ice to play with! Drop a chunk in a beaker of grape juice, wait for the fog to fill the glass and overflow, then walk around sipping it and chuckling darkly. The dry ice sits on the bottom of the beaker.

OK maybe my job has been fun at times, but that was a long time ago. Inspecting frozen concentrated grape juice, in that case. The dry ice trick was not an official part of the job.

My local grocery store runs free delivery promos once in a while, and I use it then. I don't get fresh items for the reasons GTOO mentioned. I stock up on canned goods, rice, pasta, 3 gal jugs of vinegar, laundry soap ingredients and toilet paper. I felt sorry for the driver when they ran a free delivery offer during their 'can-can' sale. IIRC, I ordered 30 cases of canned food.

I admit it's nice to use online services to compare prices of supermarkets for delivery (and it makes keep a price book for sales super easy!), but I never found ordering online cheaper, hassle free or remotely convenient.

Packers or delivery men often leave entire bags of food behind at the supermarket or dodgy substitution items for sold out stock (think herring instead of salmon, bay leaves instead of basil or cream cheese instead of halloumi).

Not to mention, delivery vans turning up and hour after scheduled slot when I could be out getting on with my life. It's easier just to go in person (3.5 mile bike ride) and deal with sold out stock myself. Also, costco bulk buys a bit of a revelation at home, I've saved a fortune and only need to pick up the basics at the supermarket, purely the fresh produce I can't grow myself.