My friends with toddlers love the convenience of store pick up so they don’t have to baby-wrangle while shopping. Some of my older friends like it because they don’t like to walk a big store. My anxious friends may find this a way to avoid that anxiety. But I’m going to play devil’s advocate and show you some advantages of grocery shopping for yourself you might not have considered.
I periodically toy with the idea of store pick up, but every time I do, something either gets in the way or goes wrong and discourages me again…can’t get a reasonable pick-up time, my order gets routed to a different store than the store I chose (yes, this has happened to me 2 times), etc., etc. It just hasn’t panned out for me, but then I also adore the game of shopping, and the fun of talking to people, getting to know my store’s employees.
You’re probably not surprised by this given who I am and what I do. Just hear me out on seven ideas (in no particular order) for why you might consider grocery shopping for yourself…at least once in a while.
1) You get to see what they have
I like to see what all the store has available. Maybe there might be a new brand or flavor or new dietary spec (like GF or salt-free) of something I purchase often. Or maybe there are some new prices other than sales. Maybe they started carrying a brand I liked from another store. Yes, you can see what they have online to a certain extent, BUT I just entered tomato sauce on my Kroger website, and it gave me 196 options!
Now be honest, no one can scroll through 196 options and come up with what they could standing in the canned tomato aisle. Plus, you’re depending on whatever sort functions the store came up with based on THEIR desire to sell product. When I put in tomato sauce, I wasn’t thinking of pasta sauce…but yes, they’re all together.
Standing in that canned tomato product aisle, I could quickly go to JUST tomato sauce and find every brand, size, price, dietary spec imaginable all available to my eyes at the same time…not scrolling through pages. (And usually, the pasta sauce ISN’T on the canned tomato aisle!)
2) Comparisons are easier
In the same way, it’s easier to compare labels and prices side by side. If I’m on the Whole30, I sure wouldn’t want to click into one product to read the label, and then have to click into another product to read its label. In the store, I grab one of each, turn them over, and glance back and forth quickly. Just no good way to do this digitally.
You also have the advantages of all the price tags right in front of you, including in many cases the per unit price (which can sometimes change my mind on which item I’ll purchase).
3) Surprise items on sale
Many times, the Buy 5/Mix & Match type sales have a lot more items included than what they printed in the flyer. If you’re shopping by the sale, you might find some cheaper items on that same sale you would really like to have. Sometimes I really only want 3 things that are on a Buy 5 sale. I might not get them if I have to raise the quantity. But if I find 2 other items that are small I could add, I’ll go for it.
Reconsidering your grocery shopping?
My desire was merely to point out advantages of grocery shopping for yourself. Personally, I’m old-fashioned and like doing this though others consider it a chore. (At least one other person sees some advantages…see that here.) Stay tuned for part 2 and the remaining 4 advantages. Happy shopping, whichever way you choose to do it!
Did you know I publish the store sales I shop from each week in Mid TN? I also show FL and So Cal. Check this link updated each Wednesday…bookmark it for easier access!
