Since the kids go back to school next week, things have been crazy. I have been so busy running the kids around, seeing clients in between, and doing housework that I decided to order my groceries online.
I used Kroger's services "ClickList" and "Amazon Fresh." I was skeptical about using these services. I felt pure laziness and guilt for even considering trying these services at first. I told myself, "The least you can do is get off your butt and go to the store and buy your groceries; you're on your computer all day." I know that some days, going to the grocery store is my only source of exercise so I can appreciate a good stroll down the shopping aisles.
So, last night I took the plunge. I started with Kroger's ClickList. When I first went to the website, I just sat there and looked blankly at the page, like, "What do I choose?" I then decided it would be best to sort out some recipes for the week and then decide what I needed through the site.
So that is what I did. I got my recipes together and put everything on my list. My grocery bill seemed lower when I used the list than when I go to the store just grabbing whatever I can find on the shelf.
I was immediately impressed when I had about 4-5 meals, which came to under $60. After I got what was on my grocery list, I then proceeded to start clicking away at things that were on sale through the ClickList website. In essence, I started doing the very thing I do when I go to the store - throwing things in the cart. I ended up spending about $168, plus they charged me close to $12 for the delivery. I was again hesitant to pay after I did all that online shopping, but I did anyway. I told myself "The point is to see how this works, so just do it and stop complaining." I entered my card info and hit send. Everything was pretty simple. In truth, my first bill came to roughly $130, minus the delivery charge, but then they gave me the option to go back and add things to the list if I needed them. I had until midnight, so I did just that. I added a few more items to my list, which brought my bill close to $180. I don't normally spend $180 for a week of food - maybe around $150, so I went over by about $30.
Then, I went to Amazon Fresh as I wanted to try out their services and get decently priced fruits and vegetables. I ended up spending about $45 with them. The process was very similar to that of Kroger's Clicklist: Just click on an item to add it to your shopping cart, provide your address and billing info, and pay. Both allow you to pick a time and date of the delivery. I chose in both cases the 10:00–12:00 p.m. time frame.
Today, I woke up at 10:00 am and waited for my packages to arrive. Kroger sent me a text letting me know the delivery was on its way, and they also called me. Amazon Fresh just delivered the package although I did receive an email letting me know my package was being prepared. Both came at around the same time, between 10:30–11:00 am. Both had the groceries well packed and insulated. The cold groceries were so well packed that the icecream I got from Kroger was still hard, tightly packed in dry ice.
There was plenty of ice packs in both packages, which I was able to keep. I was sort of surprised they would give you so much dry ice for free. The kids had fun playing with the dry ice, adding it to water and watching it emit the fog.
In the end, it was a pleasant and convenient experience. It cost me almost $12 to use Krogers ClickList. Amazon Fresh was free for 30 days and then $14.99 for Prime members. With both of them, you can order basically the same things you can buy at the store - meats, dairy, pasta, cereal, and other items. With Kroger Clicklist, I was even able to order storage containers.
Overall, I was very pleased with the experience. However, I feel that in the time it took me to find my recipes, create my shopping list, and go over my final order, I could have gone to Kroger up the street, come back and had my food in the time it took me to do all that. It still was nice and convenient, and I liked how it seemed easier to find the products I needed online rather than browsing back and forth through the aisles.
As for some of the items I had on my checklist, I know I would have had a harder time finding them in the store than online. So, I like the convenience of finding items online by just typing the name of what you need through their search.
So, If I were to rate this whole experience from 1-5 stars, I would give this experience a 4.5-star rating. The only thing I did not care for was the delivery fee and the fact that I had to double check my list to make sure I had all the items on there. I swear I had ordered my energy drinks and the kids some Gatoraid, but they were not on the list, and I wasn't charged for them. Maybe I forgot to add these items, but I swore I did. Aside from that, making sure I got everything I purchased, it was well worth the price.
Master Psychic Rachel
Don't Live Life In The Dark...