Peapod Delivers

For the past few months I have been dabbling in online grocery shopping with Peapod by Shop and Stop*, and I have to say its been beneficial to our budget. Now I haven't been exclusively shopping Peapod, but I have ordered once or twice a month, and been pleased with the results.



Pros

• No commute to the grocery store (I can shop during naptime, so it's not interfering with Mommy/daughter time, also I can stock up on more than will fit in the bottom of my stroller and on my shoulders)
  

• You can add items to your cart until 4 pm the day before your delivery.

• Double coupons up to $0.99 (there are no stores that double coupons in my vicinity, even the Pathmark that's a mile away)

• Excellent prices (competitive, if not far lower than local groceries)

• Search for coupons online while grocery shopping in the comfort of your home! In fact Peapod even has a page of printable coupons, which frequently match their sales.
  

• Excellent and super-responsive Customer Service

• If they don't carry a product that you'd like, you can request it!

• No impulse buys (or fewer- you can monitor your spending because your grocery total is staring at you on the right side of the screen)

Cons

• Out of stock items- Usually each week there are one or two items on my grocery list that are out of stock and you don't find out until the day of the delivery. With some items you can opt to have Peapod substitute a similar item or different brand. The substitutions have been great (sometimes a higher value product for the sale price of your originally ordered item). But it is a little disappointing to not have a key ingredient (like a whole chicken) show up.

• The occasional hiccup in coupon processing (twice my coupons weren't applied to my account, but all it took was a 3 minute phone call to Customer Service to fix the situation)
• You don't get to lay your hands on and pick out produce/meat-this may deter some people, but so far I think Peapod has done a great job of selecting quality produce for us. On only one occasion we received a tomato that was moldy the next morning. I called customer service and they gladly refunded the money.
• Delivery charge, gas fee and driver tip(optional)- These may seem like a deal breaker for some people,but with a little resourcefulness and couponing I've been able to offset these charges in savings (another post in itself).

*Disclaimer--the links in the post are my personal links. You will receive $10 off your first purchase and I will receive the same.