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I confess that I am not crazy about any kind of shopping. It’s a royal pain in the behind and I would rather clean my house, wash dishes, work, or do just about anything else. But when I begin running out of either ideas or food to fix it does become necessary to make a trip to the store.
Although some people correct this problem by growing their own food, I have not yet found the time to start my own garden. Since my husband and I own and raise cattle, though, we do “grow” our own beef.
But in addition to growing your own vegetables, there are people who make another choice. Some turn to grocery subscription services.
Grocery delivery companies have become popular in the past few years. I recently gave in to the trend too and tried Blue Apron. Although the meals were quite tasty, overall I decided grocery subscription services were not for me . Here’s why:
Reasons to Sign Up for Grocery Delivery
Time
Many people sign up for a grocery delivery service in order to save time. I am sure it can cut down on the time spent buying groceries for some people. However, I did not feel that it saved me time overall.
1. Buying Groceries
Certainly the process of buying groceries is time consuming. I will not argue that point. After all, it takes a lot of time to travel to the store (I live out in the country a few miles away from town), wheel the cart around, and choose items to buy.
Once you have that chore done you still have to spend time unloading the cart onto the belt so each individual item can be scanned. Even more time will be spent paying for your selections, pushing the cart to your car, and transferring all the bags to the backseat (or wherever).
Of course, that doesn’t end the process. You still have to drive home, make umptillion trips from the car to the house while loaded down with bags, and put everything away in its proper place.
A survey done by The Time Use Institute shows that just the shopping time can add up to 43 minutes for the average trip to the store. Once you include the time spent traveling to and from the store as well as loading and unloading your cart multiple times it could be well over an hour.
If you use a grocery subscription service they will do the shopping for you. All you have to do is open the box, once it has been delivered, and put everything away. That may take you 5 minutes or so, give or take. So, if time is a major factor for you, a grocery subscription service like Blue Apron might be well worth it.
2. Food Preparation
To the majority of people that 5 minutes sounds like a significant time savings. However, when I used a grocery subscription service I felt like there was a time trade-off.
My meal prep time took a lot longer. I had more vegetables to cut up and it resulted in extra dishes to wash. Once you factor in the extra prep time and clean-up time the time savings was used up.
That being said, if you are used to the extra dishes and don’t mind additional food prep time a meal delivery service could save you some time.
3. Meal Planning
But then you must also factor in the time it takes for meal planning as well. Personally I do not have a very difficult time selecting and planning for meals so it doesn’t take a lot of my time.
Other people have more trouble with it, though. If they have a hard time making a decision, letting someone else do that part for them could be a relief and a time saver. That is another way using grocery subscription services can save you time.
Cost
The price you pay for a grocery delivery service differs depending on which company and plan you choose to sign up with. If you take into account the introductory offers, however, the costs are not that different from one company to another.
I was given a special deal from a friend for my box of food from a meal delivery service. Therefore, I did not spend a dime of my own money on it.
That being said, if you compare the costs of a grocery subscription service to a trip to your preferred grocery stores, the costs are significantly more. Certainly I know they are in it to make money and they are shopping for you, sending it directly to you, and removing part of your work load.
Keeping those things in mind you are not just paying for the food items alone when you pay your meal delivery fee. You are paying for their time to select foods and meal plan as well as package and delivery everything straight to your door. Therefore, a big part of what you are paying for is, of course, convenience.
Freshness
The food I received in my Blue Apron box seemed to be fairly fresh. It came with a cold pack to keep items at their proper temperature and all of the packaging was either reusable or could be recycled or disposed of safely.
But anytime someone else does your shopping you take away your own ability to choose the items you feel are the freshest. Instead, you rely on another person’s judgement. That means there is always a chance your food will not be of the same quality you are used to.
Of course another factor to consider is which company you have signed up with. One company may have access to fresher produce than another. It is something to think about before you sign up.
Other Thoughts
You should carefully consider all of the facts before you decide if you should sign up for a grocery delivery service. It is obviously more expensive than shopping on your own. On the other hand I believe it truly can save time for some people. It just wasn’t right for me and my family.
The question is, how much is your time worth to you? For some people it makes sense to have others do that work while they use the time to make vastly larger amounts of money. But there are other things to think about as well.
Phone Ahead Orders
More grocery stores are turning to call ahead services. All their customers have to do is phone in their order. Then, store employees pull the items from the shelves for them. Later, the customers can drive to the store and wait comfortably inside their vehicles while a staff member from the store loads groceries in their cars.
Of course the grocery stores that offer phone ahead ordering attach a fee for the service. Whether or not it is more expensive or less than a grocery subscription service depends on how often you use each service. It may also depend on how many groceries you buy.
Other Grocery Store Delivery Services
Some customers don’t even have to go so far as to drive to the store to pick up their groceries. They can phone them in and have them delivered for an extra fee. This is another way to save time in a busy schedule but it can be cheaper than a grocery subscription service.
For example, Safeway has a grocery delivery service but requires a minimum purchase of $30. They offer free delivery on your first order and the rates vary based on your purchase price thereafter. But in comparison the rates appear to be more reasonable than a grocery subscription service.
Exercise
There is a certain amount of exercise associated with buying your own groceries. This does not replace a true cardio workout, obviously, unless you are running through the store with your cart (personally, I prefer to walk rather than run because it’s safer for other shoppers!).
That being said, older shoppers who don’t get out of their homes that much may enjoy the walking they get as they shop. Holding onto a cart provides them with extra stability to prevent falls while they browse for items to buy.
This is a side benefit that would be missing from a meal delivery service. When all food is chosen and delivered directly to you the exercise portion of regular grocery shopping is skipped.
Social Interaction
Despite the fact that I work from home and live in the country I still drive into town every day or two. While I combine my errands as much as possible to eliminate extra trips, there are appointments and errands that force me to make the trip fairly often.
It seems like each time I go to Walmart or the grocery store I see other people I know. Unless we are in a rush, we usually take a few minutes to catch up on personal news and family happenings.
The point is, in addition to exercise, grocery shopping provides needed social interaction for some customers as well as the other benefits. This is particularly true for those who don’t escape the confines of their home as often as I do. The social interaction would be missing if they relied on a grocery subscription service for all of their meals.
As you can plainly see, there are a lot of benefits of using a grocery subscription service. But there are also differences that some would say are disadvantages as well.
The bottom line is, if you have been thinking about using grocery subscription services you should carefully contemplate the advantages and disadvantages before signing up. This includes not only the price differences and time savings but other side benefits and drawbacks as well.
Have you ever used grocery subscription services? If so, what was your take on them?
