I Ordered My Groceries Online

I ordered my groceries online for the 1st time ever last month and now I feel like the veil has been lifted and I’ve personally discovered one of the greatest things ever invented! I’m sure I’m late to the game, most of you have probably been taking advantage of this feature since it came out. But I figured, the middle of a pandemic was a great time for me to try it out.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been considering ordering groceries online but really can’t fandom handing over the chore of picking out your groceries to a complete stranger. When friends or family members have asked why I haven’t tried this feature, my response is usually, “What if I want a small grapefruit and not a large one? How will I put that responsibility in someone else’s hands?!”

So I personally ordered my groceries from Walmart, but I know many other stores that offer this feature. Everything I’ll be sharing is according to how Walmart runs their online service. I have several topics that I want to touch on so I’m just going to make a handy dandy list for y’all.

1. Time Slots
2. I learned this lesson the hard way because I thought I would order my groceries and then be able to pick them up on the same day…WRONG. With everyone migrating over to this option, time slots are very limited no matter the store you go with. So my number one piece of advice is to make sure you order a couple days in advance that way you’re not stuck with a pick up time late in the evening.
3. Pricing Policy
4. I wasn’t sure if Walmart would have the same low prices online as they do in store but I was pleasantly surprised that not only do they have the same deals but they also have items that have additional discounts.  Also if an item’s price changes after you’ve put your order in, you are guaranteed to receive the lowest price!
5. $$$ off your first order
6. Not only did I save time by ordering groceries online but Walmart gave me $10 off by purchase since it was my first purchase and was over $50. I thought that was really nice perk!
7. Picking out the details
8. Remember when I said I was weary of this service due not being able to pick out the specifics of my items? Well, I was wrong. Walmart let me chose the details all the way down to the approximate size of fruit and veggies I wanted. You also get the option of choosing whether or not you want a similar item in case what you choose is not available. For example, I put the limited edition Strawberry Cheesecake Halo Top in my order but I asked that if that specific one wasn’t available, to give me any of the limited edition flavors. That’s how I got to try the Gingerbread House Halo Top for the first time and it was seriously delicious! I appreciate this option because it ensures that you get everything on your list and also might make you try something new. If you don’t like this option, it can easily be turned off by the click of a button.
9. Contactless Pickup
10. After you chose your pick up time and select your items, you’re asked some details about your vehicle. You’re also asked if you want your groceries placed in the trunk or behind the passenger seat, I choose the trunk. When you pull up, you park in one of the pickup spots and then select the option on your app that states you’re there for a pick up. You then receive a notification stating that someone will be out shortly with your groceries. A nice girl came out, waived hello, I popped the trunk open and she loaded all my groceries in there. I thought I was going to have to load the groceries myself so that was another pleasant surprise. As I drove off I received a notification saying thank you with my receipt attached.

The entire process of ordering groceries for pick up is completely fool proof. I honestly could kick myself for not trying it sooner. You also do have the option of getting your groceries delivered. I choose pick up because I knew I was going to be out and about running some errands but if you’re chilling at home and don’t want to go anywhere, you can just get it delivered.

The only drawback that I found in this whole process is that to place an order for pick up through Walmart it has to be a minimum of $30. Sometimes you just have a quick two items to pick up but you still don’t want to step foot in the store. I wish there wasn’t a minimum on it so that I could literally just get someone to throw a bottle of dish detergent in my back seat. But for my big weekly grocery hauls I will 100% be ordering them online.

My favorite thing about this service was how much time it actually saved me. It took me maybe 12 minutes to make an account, put 20+ items in my cart and check out. Whereas when I physically go to the store, I tend to get distracted and spend time looking at random stuff. An hour and a half later I’m finally leaving the store with 10 items that weren’t actually on my list. Please tell me at least one of you can relate to this?

I want to know— have you ordered groceries online? If so, how was your experience?

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