A few weeks ago I was shopping at a new grocery store when I saw an odd spectacle.
No, it wasn’t Zach carrying around a cucumber like a jousting rod (although that did happen later).
Instead, we saw at least a dozen employees in bright blue uniforms whisking items off shelves and onto carts like sapphire aliens abducting food. We were puzzled, until we found out they’re a part of the popular new ClickList service. They were pulling orders from people who’d ordered their groceries online, and would be swinging by later in the day to pick them up.
My bullshit radar immediately went up. Who in their right mind would pay someone to pick out their groceries for them? As someone who’s often not in their right mind, that’s when I knew I had to try it.
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My impressions of ClickList
Last week was a particularly busy week. We’d just gotten back from Geek Bowl 2018 and were busy catching up with work and school. The pantry was empty, and that’s when I remembered: oh yeah—ClickList! Who wouldn’t want sapphire aliens to pick up all their food for them?
I decided to give it a try. After all, the first three orders at my store are free. After that, it’s just $4.95 to have someone do your grocery shopping for you.
ClickList Online Ordering
I was pleasantly surprised that it was very easy to shop online. All I had to do was log onto my store’s account, type in the name of the item I wanted to order, select it, and click “add to cart.” It was as easy as shopping on Amazon.
Actually, it was even easier than Amazon. We use our store’s frequent shopper card, and so they basically already knew what we wanted to get. For example, when I typed in “tomatoes,” the first search result was the exact same variety of cherry tomatoes we buy every week for our salads. Easy peasy!
Another thing that I loved was that it helped you take advantage of e-coupons. E-coupons have just never really worked for me in-store. First, I have to scroll through a mountain of useless coupons online, and then, when I get to the store, I always forget what coupons I have and what the terms were. Was it a BOGO? Did I need the 8-oz cheese or the 16-oz cheese? You get the picture.
But, when you shop online with ClickList, it shows you exactly what items have an e-coupon available, and you can even click an “apply coupon” button right there. This saves you a ton of time from wading through useless coupons.
At the end, I entered my credit card information, selected a pickup time, and hit “submit order.” (Note: they won’t charge your credit card until you pick up the order, in case anything changes. The number they provide you is just an estimate, but I’ve found it to be pretty close to the actual cost.)
Picking up the ClickList order
I showed up at my designated time the next day (actually, I was a bit late, since someone forgot to fill the tank with gas and it was empty).
I wasn’t sure where to go, so I just circled around the parking lot aimlessly. You know, like any other Tuesday.
Finally, I found a sign for ClickList parking. It was at the front of the parking lot, towards the side of the store. I pulled into a numbered spot, and the sign instructed me to call a phone number. A lady picked up and asked me which spot I was parked in. A minute later, a dude came out of a side door with my order on what looked like a gardening cart.
The guy was very friendly. He explained how the ClickList service worked and patiently went over my order with me.
They’d made two substitutions, since what I’d ordered wasn’t available. Surprise—they gave me higher-end stuff, but still charged me for the cheap stuff I’d ordered. It’s a great way for cheap bastards like myself to get the high-end goods. Then, he loaded my groceries up into the truck for me.
This put me in an age-old quandry I’ve never really been able to figure out. Do I tip him? I decided not to, mostly because I didn’t have any cash on me. But, happily I calmed my panic attack down later after reading an FAQ on the ClickList website that states tips are not accepted.
The goods: How were they?
The time had come. How was the produce? Did I just spend a bunch of money on moldy oranges, wilted lettuce, and mushy avocados?
Happily, the produce was perfect. Even the avocados were spot-on. I’d ordered them as a cheaper four-pack and all of them were perfectly ripe at the same time, a feat which has always eluded me and forced me to buy single-serve avocados.
Related: Amazon Fresh
Even the meat was fantastic. They didn’t have any roasts on sale available in a three-pound size that I’d ordered. So, they upgraded us to an even fancier cut of meat fresh from the butcher counter, and it made the most amazing pot roast I’d ever had.
The only thing I didn’t like was that everything came in plastic bags. Tons of plastic bags. Mountains of them. They’d organized everything into like groups. For example, the two cuts of meat I’d ordered were in one bag. Veggies were in another. We normally try to avoid using plastic bags, but I guess I can repurpose them as doggie waste bags for Juno.
Who is ClickList right for?
I can see ClickList being super useful if you fit in one of the camps below:
You shop with someone (or are someone) who is an impulse buyer
This is Zach. He’s the master of throwing all kinds of gross junk food in the cart. If it’s got processed chicken and/or sprinkles on it, he puts it in the cart.
You’re short on time
No doubt about it; shopping through ClickList is way faster. I hear in some places you can even have your groceries delivered right to your door. Alas; our grocery store is still stuck in the year 2018 and doesn’t offer that service yet. Maybe we’ll get grocery delivery service at the same time we get hoverboards and jetpacks.
You get annoyed by grocery shopping
I don’t know who the hell plans this out, but I swear there’s a secret evil flash mob army that haunts us in the grocery store. They show up every week at the same time we go grocery shopping and strategically walk out in front of us like a slow-motion parade of elders. Then, just to spice things up, every so often they’ll walk away and leave a random cart in the aisle right in front of our path. It’s MADNESS!
But, happily, we can get around our evil slow-motion flash mob stalkers by ordering our groceries online now.
Who is ClickList not right for?
As awesome as I think ClickList is, I can definitely see that there are scenarios where it’s better to just go get your damn groceries on your own.
If you’re on a super-tight budget
As I said, our grocery store charges $4.95 for this service. If you’re already on the very fringes of what you can afford, that might be an expense to skip. Keep in mind, though, that $4.95 can help you stay on budget as well, especially if you’re an impulse shopper. But if you’re a man/woman with a plan and aren’t easily swayed by the woos and sweet promises of Brownie Brittle, you might be just fine skipping ClickList.
Related post: How to Battle a Dining Out Addiction…And Win!
If you just need a quick mid-week stock-up
This only makes sense for your weekly grocery store trip when you’ll be buying the bulk of your groceries. Otherwise, the numbers don’t work out. You don’t need to spend an additional $4.95 to order a loaf of bread if you run out mid-week. Just go in the store and grab it yourself.
If you like picking out your own food
I was surprised with how well the employees picked out my produce. I’m a notoriously picky person as it is. I like my bananas to be just the right shade of yellow with a greenish tint, and so far, they’ve surpassed my expectations.
Still, if you’re uber-picky about your food, it might be easier for you to just go get it yourself.
Overall ClickList rating: 9/10
I love this service. To sum up, here are the things that I like about it:
- It saves time
- I can automatically find and apply coupons to my order
- I can avoid the evil slow-motion flash mob stalkers and save headaches
- It allows me to eat healthier because I’m not tempted with junk food
- It saves money because we don’t impulse-buy expensive junk food
However, I did find one down side:
- They give you way too many plastic bags
On the whole, though, this is definitely something I’ll be trying to convince Zach to let us do regularly in the future.
Have you ever tried ClickList? Leave a comment below!
They will bring the groceries out unbagged, just make a note on one of the items in your cart that you will provide your own bags. Oh, and there is grocery delivery in FC, the College location does it and it’s not as easy to shop as Clicklist is, it’s a different system. It’s $10 for delivery. I did get groceries delivered from Walmart (in FC) once I think.
Oh wow, I had no idea! Thanks for the tip! We usually use reusable bags to try and minimize the impact on the environment (and our poor tiny trash can).
$10 for delivery isn’t that bad – I’ll have to check that one out too! 🙂
ClickList sounds like the grocery pick-up/delivery services in my area. Like you, I found them to be great services and worth it for a major shopping trip, especially when they offer special coupons. It’s also great if you have small kids or if you have a disability that makes shopping difficult. I started out thinking it was a luxury, but I agree it can be well worth it!
I was surprised when I came to this conclusion as well. But, a lot of studies have shown that spending money to get your time back is one of the best ways to boost your happiness, so it makes sense, I guess.
Is your Clicklist affiliate link in here? I can’t find it and I had no idea about the e-coupons…I want to try this out at our local Kroger since they talk about this ClickList thing on all of their freaking carts.
No affiliate link! I couldn’t find an affiliate program. I just wanted to put this out there to help people, but thank you. 🙂
It’d be a really great service for you, especially since you’re going to be SUPER busy pretty soon here! 🙂
Be careful to look at your receipt when you pick up your groceries using clicklist. I brought a bunch of coupons with me and they took them away and told me that they’d been applied but a careful look through the receipt revealed that none of the coupons had been applied. I was in a hurry to get out of there so I didn’t look over the receipt. Also, some of the food was poorly bagged. When you can’t watch them bagging your items you can’t correct them if they don’t bag something correctly. On the plus side my cold food was cold and the whole thing took less than five minutes. If I was a parent who has to shop with their kids or had social anxiety, and I didn’t have any coupons then I might use this service again.
I agree, the coupon thing is a bit awkward. I used paper coupons for the first time today and it did seem to slow the process up a bit. Just something to keep in mind – thanks for pointing it out!
I use this service due to health problems with my back and legs.