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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

#91

Post by paulmd »

aianus wrote: post #81
tshtf wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I never understood this meme. How would the state save money if those people sat at home instead of working at Walmart? How is it Walmart's fault that the minimum wage is so low and the regulations are written in such a way as to incentivize part-time labour over full-time labour? Hate the game, not the player.

Walmart gets a lot of heat but they actually do lobby for a higher minimum wage (which they believe will hurt their less-efficient competitors more than it does Walmart). And really, most retail and food-service companies are no better.

With that said, it's certainly possible to run a retail store without totally screwing your employees. Costco is extremely profitable despite providing very high wages and good benefits, far better than Walmart's warehouse-club subsidiary Sams Club. At the end of the day Walmart is still making a choice to screw over their employees just because they can get away with it, regardless of if everyone else is doing it. Tu quoque is not a good defense.

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

#92

Post by ghaff »

icebraining wrote: post #86
ghaff wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't say that concerns with expiration dates are high on my list of issues when I'm grocery shopping. That said, if I'm going to order online anyway, I'm not sure why I wouldn't just have it delivered--maybe for a few bucks more--than driving to the store. Maybe if I'm not very mobile but can still drive, but then I still need to unload the car. I don't really understand the use case.

Sometimes you can't be sure when you'll be at home to receive them.

There's still a time window for pickup though. So you have to schedule in any case.

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

#93

Post by bkor »

tomkinstinch wrote: post #66
11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There's actually an argument to be made that some frozen or canned vegetables have higher nutrient content than the equivalent "fresh" vegetables at the grocery store, since the frozen ones are harvested closer to peak readiness and packed proximal to farms, versus the "fresh" veggies which may be harvested well in advance of when they're ready to give them adequate time for long transit to stores and a reasonable du…

The shipment of bananas is interesting. They're transported in either bulk vessels or in containers. During transport the ripening process is prevented (think just by means of ventilation). The transport can take several weeks. Then on arrival they let it ripen, making the bananas turn yellow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#Storage_and_transport (too brief though)

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

#94

Post by ghaff »

KJKingJ wrote: post #90
mfenniak wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like a "mini-supermarket" is just a market; the super and mini should cancel each other out. :-)

Heh yeah, it's a bit of a contradictory term, but it's the only 'generic' way to describe it that I know of. Most of them are branded with the store's name with a suffix like 'local', 'express' or 'metro'

The US doesn't really have that class of store for some reason. Even in urban areas, there tend to be either full-fledged grocery stores or "convenience stores" like 7-11 which have minimal fresh food. There are certainly exceptions but they tend to be local one-off markets. AFAIK, there aren't any widespread versions of the express/metro markets like you see in the UK.

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

#95

Post by wiremine »

KJKingJ wrote: post #55
wiremine wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ten…

> then browse down a list of products i've purchased before (both online and instore) and chose which ones I want to be delivered

That's cool. So they keep a history of everything you've purchased? Do they do that by credit card or do you log in some how when you purchase instore?

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

#96

Post by Tistel »

This could be huge if they can keep the prices near Walmart levels. This could be a way to get around the negative stigma of shopping at Walmart amongst the hipster / bourgeois / middle class. If they pull this off it will put real pressure on the other grocery providers. On the downside, grocery delivery services have been tried many times in the past 15 years.

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

#97

Post by yardie »

jrcii wrote: post #25
lujim wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

To second this, I've had three or four conversations with Amazon warehouse employees and all told me it was a terrible experience. One worked at a major distribution point in Pennsylvania and explained that in addition to being compelled to essentially run back and forth constantly to pick items, they refused to provide air conditioning in the middle of summer.

Which is kind of dumb. I'm guessing someone in Amazon ran the numbers and found that worker health, happiness, and heat exhaustion is still cheaper than air conditioning.

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

#98

Post by s3krit »

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.

We have this in the UK for several large supermarkets (Walmart-owned ASDA for example), as well as regular home-delivery. I believe ASDA brand it as 'click and collect' - When you arrive at the store, you go to a touchscreen kiosk and enter some code and someone comes out with a pallet of your shopping so you can take it to your car.

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

#99

Post by ghaff »

massysett wrote: post #77
imroot wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My issues with Instacart is that not every shopper knows how to shop for produce. I order avocados from instacart: They're all black on the inside when I cut into them. I order specialty chips or cheeses? They're marked as "Item out of stock," but when I run to the same grocery store that they shopped at after my delivery it's right there in plain sight to me. I order deli meat from Instacart? They ignore my comments…

When I shop for groceries about half of my bill is produce. I also need groceries every week to keep produce in the house. I don't trust anyone to pick out produce. So I have to go buy it. So it's not worth it to me to buy groceries online because I would only be buying non-produce. I do however buy some things on Amazon that otherwise we might buy in the grocery store, like diapers.

I number of years back, I was on crutches with a broken foot and tried out Peapod for grocery delivery. It was "OK" but they were often out of things and items like produce were definitely hit or miss. At the time it was useful because I could drive and make my way through the store on crutches but couldn't easily do a full grocery shopping. Once I was back on my feet I stopped using them because, if I was going to the store anyway, having some of my groceries delivered wasn't much of a win.

(I'm willing to believe that Instacart + Whole Foods, for example, is a better overall experience--for a premium. But it's not available where I live.)

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

#100

Post by ghaff »

rco8786 wrote: post #82
k-mcgrady wrote: post #27

I'm always surprised grocery delivery is still a big deal in the US. All the major supermarkets in the UK do home delivery, next day, for a £3-5 delivery fee. You can go the site, fill your basket, and checkout. You also get a 1-2 hour delivery slot so you don't have to wait at home all day. We also have Amazon Prime Now doing grocery delivery within 1 hour in some cities. I can see how it would be a problem in some…

At least in NYC, the local chains will do same day delivery. I think it's a matter of geography/density

It's a combination of geography/density and not being able to easily hop in a car and park (for free) at a grocery store. The delivery equation totally shifts once you have to carry your groceries home or take a cab/Uber.
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