Click and collect.
That is the name of Loblaws’ new online grocery service.
And it’s pretty much the instructions too.
Customers can order all their groceries online with the click of a button, and then choose what time they want to collect them from the store. Trained “pickers” will fill the order, package it, and bring them right to your car in the parking lot. You can order them in the morning, and pick them up on the way home from work in the evening.
Orders have to be a minimum $50 and there is a fee of $3 to $5 depending on the time of day.
“It’s about delivering convenience for our customers,” says Jeremy Pee, Senior V.P. of E-Commerce for Loblaw.
“I think it would save a lot of time,” says customer Brigitte Boucher. “Especially time for golfing on Sunday instead of coming to Loblaws.”
The catch, of course, is that someone else is picking out your food – especially fresh produce. Jeremy Pee says the pickers are taught how to choose the best items. “You know, pick items like you would for your mom,” he says. “Put that level of care in it.”
Customers can also include specific instructions, like if they want their bananas a little green, just right, or a little brown.
“I think I’ll have to try it out just to see how it works,” says shopper Jackie Miller.
Online grocery shopping is not a new idea but it’s never really caught on in a big way. Some companies have gone bankrupt trying to capitalize on it since the late nineties.
Loblaws figures today’s online consumer culture makes it worth another try. “Whether it’s on their smart phones, tablets, computers, they’re always connected. And that’s something that hasn’t been there, from a customer’s behaviour, historically,” says Jeremy Pee.
And it’s not just Loblaws. Retail giant Walmart also has plans to bring online grocery shopping to the Ottawa area.
“The market is definitely there, for sure,” says Jessica Laflamme of Ottawa’s The Country Grocer – one of the first stores in the country to offer online shopping 18 years ago. They also offer home delivery.
“People are busier than they used to be,” says Laflamme. “You have a lot of families who, you know, both parents are working. Maybe there’s not enough time to go do the grocery shopping so they want to do it online.”
We shall see. Loblaws launched its first Click and Collect service at its Barrhaven location Friday. It will expand to four more Ottawa locations over the summer. Walmart says it will make an announcement on its service in the coming weeks.
