online grocery shopping? yes, please!

i LOVE going to the market.  i generally go at night without the kids.

but sometimes life gets too busy.

i know a bit about the grocery business as i worked for Catalina Marketing, the company that provides those custom coupons that are presented with your receipt.  no, not the coupons for the car wash on the back of your envelope.  the other ones, where you think “How’d they know I liked Chocolate Silk soy milk?”

well, suffice it to say that it’s probably one of the most interesting uses of marketing data that i’ve ever seen.  based on your frequent shopper card, they know what you’ve bought for the past 2-3 years, what you’ve just bought on that trip, and present coupons that the manufacturers want to give you.

anyway…i digress.

but tonight i did get TWO $10 coupons for my next visit.  just $20 bucks handed right back to me.  just for shopping.  hello!

but i digressed again…sorry.  i do that.

there have been many times in the past 5 years that i’ve tried to grocery shop online.  i always feel weird doing it.  so i’d abandon my cart…and the CRM automated emails would always try to entice me back:  “don’t forget about the items in your cart!”  “come back and we’ll deliver for FREE!”

but i felt that there was something missing.  i just want to cruise the aisles.  maybe because it’s the only hour a week i get of free time.  is that insane!?!?  yes.

so last week, when i didn’t even have that hour of free time, i finally pulled the trigger in a moment of desperation.  i was working too much, and ole mother hubbard’s cupboards were bare.

hello vons.com

i shopped by aisle.  shopped by using search.  got all the discounts i would have if i were in-store using my Vons card.  and i could even use coupons.  oh AND free delivery since it was my first purchase….yes, glorious free delivery!

whenever the cashier asks if i need help out, i generally quip, “No, but I could use help unloading at home!”

it’s so lame…i never get a laugh.  i know, i need to get out more!

 

 

anyway…here’s the friendly Vons delivery man and his refrigerated truck.  he carried the groceries into the house…right onto the kitchen counter!

now, i obviously forgot things on my first order.  but that should get better over time as my shopping history encompasses more purchases.

AND, there was no milk in our delivery.  no MILK????  i had chosen a specific brand and failed to mark “ok to substitute.”  lesson learned.

i’ll definitely do this again, but still do appreciate the tactile part of going to the market in person.

but i will say that the Vons folks probably know much more than i do about choosing watermelons…i use the ole ancient Chinese secret method of tapping the watermelon.  i learned this from my mom, who learned it from her mom.  i’m not sure what we’re listening for…but i at least tap 3 before i choose one to put in the basket.

and you?