Breakdown Of The Various Services
Until this past year, there were only two grocery delivery companies in Moore County. Moore Home Services NC and Red Door Delivery. Recently, a national company, Instacart, has entered the market. Here is a breakdown of the various services
Moore Home Services NC: Grocery delivery from Lowe’s Foods or Harris Teeter costs only $14.95. No additional charges for delivery regardless the size of the order. Shopping is completed by the stores internal shoppers and they charge $4.95. Errands like UPS, FedEx, cleaners, lunch and more is $9.95. Response time is 2 hours or less. Shopping as needed is available and priced accordingly. Deliveries are made by uniformed, badge-identified drivers. Vans are logoed and equipped with refrigeration and insulated bags for warm items. Groceries are delivered in plastic tubs. The company is insured and bonded and all drivers are HIPAA compliant.
Red Door Delivery: Delivery charge is $5.00 according to their web site. They will do shopping at various local grocery stores. The add 20% for orders up to $249.99 and 18% over $250.00 to the grocery bill on the back end for shopping the order. They run errands as needed. This company is run professionally by two military spouses.
Instacart: Delivery charges vary from $3.95 to 4.95, depending on the time demand. Orders must be place from their web site that will show the various grocery store’s logos and not ordered form the stores web site. Their web site ordering procedure will then add a percentage to each item resulting up to 15% to 18% additional to the bottom line of the order. Very likely the consumer is not aware of these additional charges. That way, the consumer does not really see the upcharges unless they were to travel to the store and price shop each item. Their shoppers shop the orders. An Instacart shopper can be almost anyone looking for additional income. All shoppers are screened. Deliveries are made from the shoppers personal vehicle, and most likely have no refrigeration.
The reason some stores use Instacart is that the stores do not have to hire internal shoppers, which is a cost cutting measure. Also, they have no need for a pickup lane at the store. Locally, Harris Teeter and Lowe’s Food process over 1000 on-line orders per week and the average delivered grocery bill is about $165.00.
Internal store shoppers are a huge advantage for the consumer. The merchandise they are selecting is chosen painstakingly. They are looking for expiration dates, freshness and more. It is in the best interest of the store and the customer that they be diligent about their job. The result is a smiling, satisfied customer.