Food Delivery to Home

[O3H]

Will food delivery from grocery stores catch-on in metro Detroit ?
Warren + SterlingHeights population = 250,000 thousand people
Meijer/Kroger/Walmart does home delivery , Amazon/WholeFoods wants to, etc., etc

Detroit is an impoverished area where median income is at $24,000.
Almost half of Detroit’s working-age residents aren’t even looking for a job
— at 53.4 percent, it's the lowest workforce participation rate in the nation
and a symptom of poverty and poor educational attainment.
Then you have the "other" part of population becoming retired in next few years.

[Uncledave54]

Will food delivery from grocery stores catch-on in metro Detroit ?

No.

Right now it may seem like everybody is doing it, but i think it's just a fad.

[O3H]

Time - something everyone wants more of in their lives.
Convenience costs a bit extra, but we do it everywhere, all the time.

Spend more time with family, or with your hobbies.
Keeps junk food out of home, stay on list/budget, eat healthy.
No more impulse buying via boredom, hunger, etc.

Your time = money, gas, "calories"/"fitness", etc.

Perhaps you get 1 BIG delivery per month with the ordinary
basic and non-perishable items, and then could do quickie trips.

[iheartthed]

Will food delivery from grocery stores catch-on in metro Detroit ?
Warren + SterlingHeights population = 250,000 thousand people
Meijer/Kroger/Walmart does home delivery , Amazon/WholeFoods wants to, etc., etc

Detroit is an impoverished area where median income is at $24,000.
Almost half of Detroit’s working-age residents aren’t even looking for a job
— at 53.4 percent, it's the lowest workforce participation rate in the nation
and a symptom of poverty and poor educational attainment.
Then you have the "other" part of population becoming retired in next few years.

Why are you conflating Metro Detroit with Detroit statistics?

No.

Right now it may seem like everybody is doing it, but i think it's just a fad.

It's hardly a fad. This is the moment that Amazon starts doing to grocery stores what it did to big box retail.

[O3H]

What "might" work in one spot - probably won't work in another spot.
While downtown Detroit does have a Whole Foods store, few get delivery.
Population density matters, along with income, especially for delivery.

WholeFoods doesn't deliver to 48092/48312 at the moment. https://delivery.wholefoodsmarket.com/

The WholeFoods is over in Birmingham - [[wonder why)
2100 E Maple Rd, Birmingham, MI 48009

Now Meijers did spend $30 MILLION for a 195,000 sq ft superstore in Warren

[Jimaz]

That reminds me: just recently I've twice noticed a Meals on Wheels truck with their logo driving around. I know they use a lot of volunteers and I know they used to use their own cars to deliver food. It looks like they've made some sort of organizational change.

No doubt there will be a growing demand for this kind of service.

[O3H]

The elderly often face mobility issues, obtaining groceries is tough.

The public-private partnership supporting the Meals on Wheels is effective.
It enables seniors to remain more healthy and independent in their own homes.
Everyone benefits from billions of dollars in taxpayer savings.

Wonder what the senior citizen discount is for grocery delivery from Walmart/Kroger/Meijer
or if they pay into the Meals on Wheels program as a nationwide entity.

[casscorridor]

You have to take into account the spatial geography of metropolitan Detroit as overwhelming suburban. The vast majority of residents will drive to buy their groceries, typically in one big shop per week from a large supermarket. This is in contrast to more urbanized areas where the trend is moving towards frequent trips to smaller, local shops. I doubt Detroit will ever follow this trend on a large scale. Having to drive multiple miles to the grocery store is an impediment to frequent trips. Therefore, it does make sense grocery delivery could be successful so that shoppers can avoid the hassle of driving, finding parking, and navigating large supermarkets.

[iheartthed]

That reminds me: just recently I've twice noticed a Meals on Wheels truck with their logo driving around. I know they use a lot of volunteers and I know they used to use their own cars to deliver food. It looks like they've made some sort of organizational change.

No doubt there will be a growing demand for this kind of service.

I started seeing this about 6 months ago in New York.

[iheartthed]

What "might" work in one spot - probably won't work in another spot.
While downtown Detroit does have a Whole Foods store, few get delivery.
Population density matters, along with income, especially for delivery.

WholeFoods doesn't deliver to 48092/48312 at the moment. https://delivery.wholefoodsmarket.com/

The WholeFoods is over in Birmingham - [[wonder why)
2100 E Maple Rd, Birmingham, MI 48009

Now Meijers did spend $30 MILLION for a 195,000 sq ft superstore in Warren

This will go beyond Whole Foods. Whole Foods has already started opening stores aimed at middle market and budget shoppers called 365 [[branded after the generic WF product brand of the same name). This is probably not so much because they see a huge future in brick-and-mortar grocery stores, but instead for brand building among cost conscious demographics who will eventually start doing significant amounts of grocery shopping online.

In the not-so-distant future, we will be lamenting that our local Kroger is a ghost-town and talking nostalgically about how grocery shopping was a half-day affair on the weekend. If you don't realize it's happening yet, just trust me, it's happening. Walmart is shitting bricks about it. Walmart dropped $3 billion on jet.com just to go head-to-head with Amazon [[https://news.walmart.com/2016/08/08/...nies-in-the-us).

[iheartthed]

You have to take into account the spatial geography of metropolitan Detroit as overwhelming suburban. The vast majority of residents will drive to buy their groceries, typically in one big shop per week from a large supermarket. This is in contrast to more urbanized areas where the trend is moving towards frequent trips to smaller, local shops. I doubt Detroit will ever follow this trend on a large scale. Having to drive multiple miles to the grocery store is an impediment to frequent trips. Therefore, it does make sense grocery delivery could be successful so that shoppers can avoid the hassle of driving, finding parking, and navigating large supermarkets.

Yes, I think that traditional grocery stores in urban areas will weather this coming change in consumer habit better than suburban formats. There are several grocery apps that promise delivery within an hour or two to my apartment in NYC. But I live across the street from a grocery store, and two blocks away from another, so I don't really have to plan out trips to the grocery store. Whenever I need something I just put on my shoes and go across the street.

If I lived in a suburban area I would probably use delivery apps more, since I would already be planning my trips to the grocery store more carefully. It would save a lot of time just putting an order into an app and having groceries delivered.

[Meddle]

A; Grocery delivery to the home is not new. It was common in the 50s, maybe before. The local grocer would fill the order and have a neighborhood kid deliver. Milk trucks were common sights.

B; I can't do this kind of thing. I never buy the same brand or size twice in most cases. I browse and look for deals.

C; I rarely use Bezos' Folly any more. Dude dun got too big fer his britches and is well over due for a massive breakup of his 'empire'. I dern tootin' ain't buyin' vittles from him.

D; on another couple of threads we're lamenting how people are too lazy to walk a block to a restaurant. But now it's OK to sit in front of the Facebook box binging on Youtube in your jammies waiting for groceries to be delivered?

[Meddle]

E; Support your local independent grocers [[if you still have one). They need your money more than the web stores do.

[softailrider]

A few years ago, a guy I know opened up a pizza place on Whittier in a newer strip mall that had about 4 other stores. He couldn’t keep a delivery person, they kept getting robbed, assulted and whatever. It turned into a fiasco, he closed up a few months later. I know groceries aren’t delivered at night, but the safety of the drivers is a huge consideration.

[O3H]

Amazon has enough coin to outfit delivery guys with video units.
HiJack a WholeFoods delivery guy, and I bet they find the idiot quite quickly.
Amazon has posted a profit for 11 straight quarters

[archfan]

If I'm buying stuff from the center of the store, I'd be happy to have someone pick it up for me. But I want to inspect the meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables, so I wouldn't order those.

[archfan]

E; Support your local independent grocers [[if you still have one). They need your money more than the web stores do.

Now, if you can afford to pay the Amazon home delivery costs, you're not poor. I wonder if, in the future, you will show how affluent you are by being able to spend the time picking out groceries at an independent grocer.

[Honky Tonk]

Now, if you can afford to pay the Amazon home delivery costs, you're not poor. I wonder if, in the future, you will show how affluent you are by being able to spend the time picking out groceries at an independent grocer.

Maybe a "Craft" grocer?

[Richard]

Now, if you can afford to pay the Amazon home delivery costs, you're not poor. I wonder if, in the future, you will show how affluent you are by being able to spend the time picking out groceries at an independent grocer.

Amazon,Target and Wal Mart all accept EBT for home delivery,Amazon has a basic $5 monthly fee in order to have the home delivery that does not include much else.

I think it is a good program for the elderly,handicapped and those who have a hard time with transportation,for myself,I spend a whole two hours a month related to groceries and it would probably take me that long to order online,but I would miss the entertainment aspect of going to the supermarket.

I wonder what the numbers are for the loss of revenue on the impulse aspect of buyers actually going to the actual store,it is not like one can just run in and get a gallon of milk without seeing something else to throw in the cart.

Years ago when my kids were young I used to use a company called Great Western Meats,they provided a Refrigerator and convection microwave as apart of the program and when they did the delivery they would stock the fridge and rotate everything,it was all guaranteed for quality,flash frozen veggies and fruits etc.

Even at that time,early 80s,it was not really any more expensive then going to the supermarket family size.

Around me there are no more family owned supermarkets outside of the farmers market,long gone.

That last block of Ice that was home delivered was in 1977 to a long time customer in Chicago,it is interesting how things that were a way of life in the past keep coming around and become the greatest thing since sliced bread.

[Richard]

Maybe a "Craft" grocer?

But you have to have a man bun in order to enter,I wonder if they sell clip on ones on Amazon?

[Zacha341]

^^^ Try LEES Beauty Supply for that! ----

Jokes aside, I am finding I'm purchasing more foods stuffs online, but I don't want to give up the experience of personal food shopping.

[iheartthed]

A few years ago, a guy I know opened up a pizza place on Whittier in a newer strip mall that had about 4 other stores. He couldn’t keep a delivery person, they kept getting robbed, assulted and whatever. It turned into a fiasco, he closed up a few months later. I know groceries aren’t delivered at night, but the safety of the drivers is a huge consideration.

Everything is paid electronically. Delivery people don't carry cash anymore.

[Meddle]

^^ But they do carry product. Saleable product that once stolen has black market value.

[Meddle]

Amazon,Target and Wal Mart all accept EBT for home delivery,Amazon has a basic $5 monthly fee in order to have the home delivery that does not include much else.

This still says they do not:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custo...deId=201895360

I've read about a few limited trial areas, so they may in some regions. The $5 delivery fee is not related to EBT/SNAP. It applies to all Pantry orders.

This page say there is a discounted rate for Prime for SNAP/EBT or medicaid holders:

https://www.amazon.com/l/16256994011...RX&pf_rd_i=ebt

[iheartthed]

^^ But they do carry product. Saleable product that once stolen has black market value.

People weren't robbing delivery drivers for pizzas and chinese food in the 80s and 90s. They were after cash, which a delivery driver back then would've likely been carrying a lot of.