Progress 2020: Grocery shopping now on-the-go (or home delivered) – The Times

Curbside grocery pickups and home deliveries are growing in Beaver County. More and more, curbside grocery pickups, offered at local Giant Eagle and Walmart stores, are being welcomed as a time-savings measure by people on the go.

An increasing number of us are getting quicker at grocery shopping.

Now is a very interesting, dynamic time. Were seeing a little bit of everything, Giant Eagle spokeswoman Jonnah Jablonowski, a Beaver County native, said.

While the vast majority of grocery shoppers still prefer walking into a store, browsing then standing in line at the checkout, the Giant Eagle stores in Rochester and Hopewell Townships Green Garden Plaza are seeing a steady rise in curbside pickup orders.

The Hopewell store also offers home delivery.

More and more, curbside grocery pickup, also offered at local Walmart stores, is being welcomed as a time-savings measure by people on the go.

Giant Eagle began curbside pickup in 2012 at its Robinson Township Market District store.

We were kind of ahead of that curve, Jablonowski, who grew up in Economy, said. It took time to fine tune. We had a very steady roll-out as we saw customers get a little more comfortable with it. Now we have nearly 100 curbside markets, which is nearly half of our supermarkets.

For curbside pickup, customers scroll through a website on their computer, phone or tablet, and choose the products they wish to buy.

Free with a minimum $35 order, curbside orders must be placed three hours in advance of the desired pickup time.

You choose the time you want and a bar code online verifies you get the correct products, Green Garden Giant Eagle manager George McGrady Jr. said.

Customers pre-select online if they will allow substitutions. Say you wanted a 26-ounce bottle of a gourmet pasta sauce but the store is out of it; you instead could settle for a smaller size bottle of the same sauce, or perhaps accept a bottle from a similar competitor if that was your choice.

Were pretty good at getting you the next most reasonable thing, McGrady said.

Once the grocery store processes an online order, an employee collects from shelves the ordered food and places it in separate containers for freezer and refrigerator items. When the customer arrives and parks in a designated spot outside the store, they notify the store by phone, and their order is wheeled out to them and placed inside their trunk, so they need not exit their car.

Curbside pickup appeals to that audience that feels they dont have enough time to invest to step into the store, Jablonowski said. Its often families with young kids who dont want to have to pull them out of the car.

Curbside pickup also cuts down on impulse buying, like when a child sees something in the store and demands mom or dad buy it.

The Hopewell Giant Eagle began curbside pickup in August 2018; Rochester Giant Eagle began curbside pickup in October 2019.

Starting last year, the Hopewell store also began home delivery to two zip codes, 15001 (Aliquippa) and 15061 (Center Township) with a fee of $5.95 for next-day delivery, while orders placed for same-day delivery cost $9.95.

For home deliveries, Giant Eagle uses a company called Shipt, which is sort of like an Uber, transporting grocery orders to a persons home.

Robert Morris University student Marcus Joyce drives for Shipt and does home delivery from the Green Garden Giant Eagle.

Its a good thing. You get to help people out, Joyce said. Like the one lady I just delivered to had surgery so she cant get her own groceries. So its a nice way to help people out and earn extra money.

As customer demand increases, curbside and home delivery could be added to other Beaver Valley Giant Eagles.

We take a very strategic approach, Jablonowski said.

Always trying to stay on top of trends, area Giant Eagles also are slowly rolling out Scan, Pay & Go, an expedited self-checkout system for shoppers who still want to enter a brick-and-mortar store.

With Scan, Pay & Go, theres a big kiosk where customers can borrow a hand-held scanner they take with them through the store to chalk up the items they buy. You scan the products and bag them as you go.

So you move through the store more quickly, Jablonowski said. Instead of picking all your items and then going to self-checkout youre kind of doing that as you go. It eliminates scanning at a register. Weve seen customers excited about this. So were looking at ways to roll it out.

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Progress 2020: Grocery shopping now on-the-go (or home delivered) - The Times