When I found out I was pregnant with the twins Baby Girl was a year old. I realized that grocery shopping while pregnant and with a toddler would be extremely challenging. It was at this time that I started looking into other options for grocery shopping. During my pregnancy, I mostly used Harris Teeter’s grocery pickup, but I have also tried a few others. This will be a general review of each of the options I have tried as well as what I like and don’t like about each option.

Harris Teeter Expresslane

This was the first online grocery option that I tried and I used it for months because I loved it so much. The Harris Teeter is new to my area, it just opened last spring, so there was some novelty to trying it out. I found the cost to be reasonable, only $4.99, and well worth saving my time and more importantly my energy.

The Pros

The pros are that you can shop from the sale paper and still receive all of their VIC (Very Important Customer) specials. Additionally, they provide exclusive eVIC specials that are often free items when you reach a certain amount in your cart. They have exceptional customer service. They call you when your order is ready an explain any items that were out of stock and let you know if there were substitutions. At that time you can choose to accept or reject the substitutions. I have ended up with name brand items for the cost of the store brand more than once. They also load your car for you all you have to do is open the trunk. I also like that they use paper bags that I can reuse for other things and make my groceries less likely to fall over.

The Cons

The cons are mostly related to pickup and may only affect my specific store. The “expresslane” is in the first row of the parking lot and there is only room for one car. The spot is surrounded by handicapped spots so if someone is there when you get there you have to sit somewhere else in the parking lot to wait. This has happened on several occasions and is slightly annoying. We have also gone several times and encountered 2 or 3 other people waiting the “expresslane” during our pickup time.

Again, their customer service is what makes this one of my top choices. For example, I placed an order for a Monday evening and they were extremely late getting it out to us. To compensate not only did they give me extra groceries for free, but they also gave me a discount on my next order. They were very apologetic and did their best to make sure we knew this was not their norm. I would give HT Expresslane a 5 out of 5 and would (and have) recommended this to my family and friends.

ShopRite From Home

So before I get into this one I want to state that experiences may be different at various store locations, but I can only speak to my own experience with my local store. Needless to stay my experience with ShopRite’s ShopRite From Home grocery pickup was pretty bad.

The Good

The online shopping experience itself was fine. I was able to shop from the sale paper as well as add items by searching or going to the department. The issue came when we went to pickup our order. There was only one parking spot which was filled. You had to walk into the store to let them know you were there. Luckily my husband was with me and he was able to go inside.

The Bad

First, he went into the main part of the store to customer service. They sent him to the grocery pickup area which had an outside door (the door was not clearly marked and no instructions were previously given on how to pickup). After going in the correct area he then had to wait for them to put our stuff in a cart. He had to bring the cart to the van and load it himself. I remember thinking that it was a good thing I wasn’t alone with Baby Girl because that would have been a hassle.

The Ugly

The worst part, however, came when we got home, unloaded our groceries and realized that they did not give us all of our items! Thankfully, it was milk so it was something I noticed right away. If it had been smaller items I may not have realized until days later. Unfortunately, he had to go back to store to get the milk and whatever else we were missing.

They sent a survey a few days later asking about my experience. I was very honest in my response. However, I never heard anything from the store encouraging me to try them again. I decided then and there not to use that service again, and I rarely go into the store anymore. Overall, I would give them a 1 out of 5 and would not encourage my friends and family to use this service.

If anyone tries either of these at their local store I would love to hear about your experience in the comments. Thanks for reading!

Martina