Apparently I’m Ahead of the “Buy All Your Groceries Online” Trend

Photo credit: Patrick Kuhl, CC BY 2.0.

I just put in my Hy-Vee Aisles Online order for February: $156.59 for what’ll turn out to be 28 dinners, 18 pieces of fruit (to eat at lunch with my Huel), and assorted afternoon snacks — plus I also restocked a bunch of spices and toiletries. $13.75 went towards five boxes of facial tissues, $12.97 towards 12 rolls of toilet paper, etc. (Bulk shopping both saves money and adds up.)

As CNBC reports, I’m ahead of the trend.

According to projections, 70 percent of shoppers will be buying some portion of their groceries online within five to seven years. That could equate to $100 billion in total spending. The shift online will impact grocery shopping in stores, where consumers are still expected to spend 80 percent of their grocery dollars.

“There is a fundamental shift in retail, and we are seeing an acceleration,” said Thom Blischok, global retail strategic advisor to Nielsen. “You can now find the basics of living online pretty easily.”

I am all about finding the basics of living online.

The downside, of course, is the $37.23 I spent at Walgreens last week because I ran out of Aveeno Active Naturals Daily Moisturizing Lotion With Sunscreen. The lotion itself only cost $16.68; I filled up the rest of the cart with stuff that I probably won’t need until March (including a second bottle of lotion), because if I spent over $35 I didn’t have to pay for shipping.

This is where having the bike might save me money, at least on a month-to-month basis; the nearest Walgreens is 3.3 miles away and accessible by bike trail, so I could in theory just go grab a thing of lotion if I needed one.

Or I could just keep shopping online, because it is pretty easy.


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