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Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

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Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#51

Post by mcintyre1994 »

wiremine wrote: post #41
TorKlingberg wrote: post #26

UK supermarkets are a bit ahead of the curve here. All the large ones have a home delivery service, including Walmart-owned ASDA. It's quite cheap too: £1-6 if you buy £40, for various time slots. They all use their own vehicles and staff, so I suppose Wal-Mart can reduce the risk by using Uber/Lyft. I wonder though, does this mean no active cooling on the way? Can you trust that the ice cream is still frozen when it…

What is the ordering experience like? Do you have a set order that comes on a regular basis? Or are they one-off orders, or a mix?

They remember and pre-load your order for you, but you can modify it freely before making it. I'd agree with the sibling comment though - they're not standout good online experiences, and I haven't tried any of them on mobile.

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#52

Post by tshtf »

brudgers wrote: post #32
nebulous1 wrote: post #12

I'm torn between wanting somebody to compete with Amazon and it being Walmart

While I was caught up in the anti-Walmart meme [and I'm using "meme" dismissively] for many years, today Walmart provides jobs in my community and those jobs appear to be stable with regular shifts because I often see the same cashiers at the same times one year to the next. I'll add that Walmart also generates local sales and income tax revenue [and sometimes property tax] that helps make schools and roads and fire…

Sure, Walmart provides jobs in your community... But they cost state and federal taxpayers in a significant way.

Walmart's business model depends on state and federal government assistance to their low-paid workers:

http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/the-high-public-cost-of-low-...

It is true that Walmart brings in local revenues through sales and property taxes, however this is more than offset by the assistance state and federal governments have to provide to low-wage Walmart workers:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/15/...

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#53

Post by jeremya »

dougk16 wrote: post #30
fattylite wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand what you meant, but a trip to the grocery store can also be a perfect way to get their energy out if the kids are particularly bananas that day. So, some parents relish that trip.

Exactly. For my toddlers I also view it as training in some level of obedience (not running to the other side of the store), social interaction, dealing with disappointment (no you can't have the batman matchbox car set), learning about money (goes in hand with the disappointment factor!), helping me to pick out food, learning what stuff is called, a little hide and seek fun within the obedience bounds...it's like a…

This. In my parenting life, I feel there are so many decision where you have to choose between optimizing the short term or the long term. I tend to favor the long term and my philosophy is roughly: the difficult path becomes easier and the easy path becomes more difficult.

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#54

Post by dvcc »

bluedino wrote: post #50

I would pay a small premium for a 'pick up at store' service like I can at some retailers. Buy the item online, go to the store, go to the customer service counter and pickup the your purchases. Imagine just going to the grocery store drive-through and picking up your groceries that you've chosen beforehand.

I am not sure where you live but this is pretty common in the north east (ShopRite etc.). To me though, I feel like there are misaligned incentives when employees pick food vs. the customer picks the food. Why should the employee care if the bread is going bad tomorrow instead of a week? The added time-savings just don't offset that concern for me.

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#55

Post by KJKingJ »

wiremine wrote: post #41
TorKlingberg wrote: post #26

UK supermarkets are a bit ahead of the curve here. All the large ones have a home delivery service, including Walmart-owned ASDA. It's quite cheap too: £1-6 if you buy £40, for various time slots. They all use their own vehicles and staff, so I suppose Wal-Mart can reduce the risk by using Uber/Lyft. I wonder though, does this mean no active cooling on the way? Can you trust that the ice cream is still frozen when it…

What is the ordering experience like? Do you have a set order that comes on a regular basis? Or are they one-off orders, or a mix?

Mine are always one off orders. I'll log on, choose an hourly timeslot for delivery and then browse down a list of products i've purchased before (both online and instore) and chose which ones I want to be delivered. It takes about 10-15 minutes to do and they will deliver everything right to my door. It ends up being a huge timesaver compared to having to go to and from the supermarket and pick everything out.

I tend to place an order about once every 2-3 weeks, and supplement it with "top up" shops for fresh items (meat, veg etc) in a mini-supermarket on my way home from work every so often.

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#56

Post by ghaff »

bluedino wrote: post #50

I would pay a small premium for a 'pick up at store' service like I can at some retailers. Buy the item online, go to the store, go to the customer service counter and pickup the your purchases. Imagine just going to the grocery store drive-through and picking up your groceries that you've chosen beforehand.

At least in the Northeast US, Hannaford has started offering this. Personally, I'm not interested but I see the benefit for some people.

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#57

Post by martin-adams »

Justin King (former CEO of Sainsburys in the UK) said that their data showed that people start ordering groceries for home delivery is when they start a family.

After a few weeks, when (usually) the mother of the new baby is willing to venture out, she will visit the grocery store to buy extra things.

Turns out that the spending level of online groceries doesn't drop, but the spending level of ad-hoc in-store purchases does, resulting in an overall increase in spending.

This is true for my family. The UK also has seen an increase of convenience stores which carry a 5% price premium. People like to by a little often, than to buy a lot every week.

The behaviour of grocery shopping has shifted a lot in the past 5 years in the UK.

Edit: Spelling and clarity

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#58

Post by elsewhen »

bluedino wrote: post #50

I would pay a small premium for a 'pick up at store' service like I can at some retailers. Buy the item online, go to the store, go to the customer service counter and pickup the your purchases. Imagine just going to the grocery store drive-through and picking up your groceries that you've chosen beforehand.

while they dont have drive throughs, this is pretty common at many stores for no fee

http://www.walmart.com/cp/1105733

http://www.homedepot.com/c/pick_up_in_store

https://www.macys.com/m/campaign/splash/buy-online-pickup-in...

http://www.target.com/c/target-shipping/-/N-551st

http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/buy-online-pick-up-in-store

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#59

Post by [deleted] »

lujim wrote: post #19
nebulous1 wrote: post #12

I'm torn between wanting somebody to compete with Amazon and it being Walmart

Walmart has a notoriously bad rap, but they are pretty progressive for a big evil company. Amazon seems to get a bit more slack even though I have read that working there is a horrible experience.

[deleted]

Re: Wal-Mart Plans to Test Grocery Delivery Through Uber, Lyft

#60

Post by 11thEarlOfMar »

agmcleod wrote: post #47
11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #44

Isn't this a bit going the wrong way somehow? Growing up, mom went grocery shopping once every 2 weeks. We'd load up 2 or 3 shopping carts that filled 8 or 10 grocery bags. One auto trip every 2 weeks for groceries. With all the delivery services for restaurants, groceries, and more and more sundries, the trips to my house are made for less and less 'stuff' per trip. More trips per household obviously means more gaso…

How did you guys keep vegetables fresh for 2 weeks? That's usually why i go a couple times a week. Usually buy a pack of meat to have for a few nights of dinner, vegetables to use as well. Then get more once it's used up.

There was a time when canned and frozen vegetables were more common than fresh. I can't eat them today, but that's what we ate growing up.
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