10 reasons why online grocery shopping is growing

Maitreyee Karmarkar
Nov 2 · 4 min read

Amazon announced recently that Amazon Prime members can now avail free grocery delivery. The grocery delivery market is fast heating up as it should be. Amazon, Walmart, Peapod, FreshDirect, Target and many others are scrambling to get more and more customers on their platforms.

And yet there are many who are deride people’s lethargy in procuring their weekly groceries. But as the Amazons and Walmarts etc have discovered, times are a-changing and customers have strong reasons to demand the convenience that online grocery shopping provides.

  1. Busy schedules

Let’s face it! For whatever reasons, people of today are way more busier than people 30, nay even 20 years ago. In the Bay Area it is easy to find people who leave the house at 7 am, drop off kids to school, work till 4pm, pick up kids from aftercare and get back home only to see 6pm in the clock. Dinner and homework eat up the rest of the evening before going to bed. Weekends mysteriously get busier than the weekdays. Such days beg for some help with the groceries.

2. Any time grocery shopping

Some people’s work schedules mean that they are rather free (and awake) and night. But alas the grocery stores may not be. This is when online grocery shopping can be nifty. Shop when its convenient for you and not depend on the store hours.

3. Returning from travel

Imagine coming back home after a week long trip. If you could only order your weekly groceries from the convenience of your smartphone while you are still at the airport waiting for your luggage, that would be such a blessing. By the time you are home and are done taking a shower, hopefully the milk, bread and eggs will be by the doorstep. Such a savior.

4. Avoid the rush, especially during the festival season

The festival season can surely pull crowds to grocery stores. All isles are bustling with people and it is hard to steer your cart without bumping into anything or anyone. With cost cutting, there are fewer people at checkout counters, leading to long checkout lines and ever growing checkout times! At this time online shopping can be a blessing from the Gods themselves!

5. Nursing Mother

Ask any mother of a newborn about their schedule and I am sure the word crazy will come up! Nursing a newborn baby is a very demanding period in a mom’s life. Add to that the hunger pangs that come with the feeding schedule. It is hard enough to brush your teeth twice in 24 hours leave alone maintaining a regular schedule for grocery and executing it accordingly. A lot of time and energy and frustration will be saved if mommy dear can order her groceries online and make sure she and the baby are well fed!

6. Ordering from the hospital

God forbid but there could be a time when you are at the hospital either sick or taking care of someone who is sick. There could be days, sometimes weeks when groceries are the least of your concern yet an undeniable reality. On such days it could be so convenient to have your groceries delivered to you. If nothing at least some fresh fruit for the patient.

7. Sick Days

Let’s pray that a hospital visit is not necessary. But sometimes even the common cold can bring one down heavily! And if that is the day you had marked for your groceries, it could add to the headache. Online ordering your favorite ginger lemon tea and some chicken soup broth could be the best medicine.

8. Inclement weather

Cold rainy/snowy days are sure shot deterrents for grocery shopping. Although it would be rather mean to expect someone else to do it for you in the same rough weather, it will be and infact is used even if the delivery charges are very high.

9. You don’t have a vehicle or cannot drive

Students in college may not always have the means to go and get the groceries themselves. Or they may not have a driving license for that matter. Senior citizens could fall in a similar category where they may not be able to drive themselves. Although only the tech savvy senior citizens are likely to order groceries from the phone, the availability of the service can be immensely assuring. Visiting tourists who cannot drive in the country because of license restrictions could also avail the online grocery ordering facility big time.

10. Organizing a party

Any party requires planning and preparation in the run up to the event itself. A good planner can save the time spent looking for the party food items sitting at home/work and use the time saved on preparing the food/decorating the party venue! This way the host will have more time and energy to have fun with the guests.

Online grocery shopping surely seems to be a growing trend. It is mighty convenient for every age group, although admittedly so far the perfect recipe for it has not been perfectly nailed by anyone. High delivery charges, “acceptable” choice of the produce by the delivery people, decision making in the absence of certain items, proper delivery of perishable items are some of the top problems that make the technology slow to catch on.

All said and done, the true reasons why online grocery shopping is really growing are

  • Rise of the gig economy
  • Advances in image recognition (recognize good fruit from bad fruit)
  • Advances in payment technologies.

In short convenience is the name of the game and technology is making it possible for consumers to have more time at their hands. The food tech industry is steadily moving toward a seamless channel starting at the farm and ending at the front door. It is only a matter of time before you open your door to this new technology.

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