Peapod Test Drive
As someone who loves and relies on the convenience of online shopping, it’s probably surprising that grocery delivery isn’t part of our routine. But following my post about Stop & Shop’s overhaul, Peapod asked whether I’d be interested in evaluating their service, and as a one-car family eager for less errands, it seemed worth investigating. Here’s what I found during my online reconnaissance mission:
Browsing interface. Peapod’s browsing interface is solid; the online organization of their stock is sensible and I especially like that there are separate natural/organic sections within each department (e.g., produce, health & beauty). Since I defaulted to shopping those sections, it made the experience very easy.
One element that I would like to see improved, though, is in the right checkout column. The shopping cart items and running total are displayed, but the individual item prices are not shown. It made comparison shopping cumbersome, as I needed to go back to the original item listings to compare prices.
Availability. Stock availability in general was good, but not as good as in-store for my preferred natural and organic departments (the organic produce section in particular was very limited). Also, when I typed in my 13 digit Stop & Shop card number – which retrieves your shopping history to make online shopping easier - I was surprised to see only a dozen or so items available online from my in-store history.
Speed. I loved how easy and fast the Peapod experience was from start to finish. Shopping and checkout were quick and easy (especially since I targeted the natural and organic grocery sections), and there were plenty of time windows for next day delivery. Another nice feature is that you can make changes to your order until just before midnight. On the receiving end, the delivery person arrived right in the specified time window and was very courteous.
Quality of perishables. For my test mission I decided to order potentially problematic perishables, such as meat and delicate produce (e.g., grapes, strawberries, tomatoes), and I must say that I was really impressed by the quality. The meat arrived very cold (i.e., nixing my mental image of meat trays sweltering in the back of a truck), and the produce in great shape; as in, same quality as I would have selected myself at the store.
Overall cost. The online and store prices seemed comparable, so the one element families would need to weigh is if the shipping & fuel charges are worth the convenience factor. The delivery fee is $9.95 for orders under $100, and $6.95 for orders over $100. For my order under $100 the fuel surcharge was about $1.
Summary. While Peapod still doesn’t solve my aforementioned conundrum of acquiring all of my natural and organic needs from one supplier (at reasonable produce prices), the quality of the experience in general was very good. I think Peapod is a great solution for urban dwellers without a car, or those who want to streamline their routine and forego trips to the grocery store, particularly if you need to place a large order, in which case it would be really nice to have someone deliver and haul in your groceries for you.
A final note: one feature that could really sway me over as a regular Peapod shopper is if there was a paper bag option, or some way for regular shoppers to have groceries delivered in cloth totes that you could swap back in on your next delivery.
The folks at Peapod kindly are offering a discount code for Boston Mamas readers who'd like to try the online service; use code BLOGPOST17 at checkout for $20 off your order (first time users only).
Comments
In the other column you talk about whether S&S is stodgy. Well, there is stodgy, and there is stodgy. The definitely invest more in technology than other stores, which is non-stodgy. But, they are more traditional with their selection. My problem is that the selection on Peapod tends to be on the stodgy side, even compared to what's in their stores. If they had more kosher foods (and issue for us) and other specific foods, I'd use Peapod more, but now it's just one of the many stores to visit. I think the getting Peapod delivered is cheaper than anywhere I can go in Newton (yes, people in Newton care about price, we spent everything on our houses :) except maybe TJ's. At least partly because I can be more rational about what I spent - tuna might be cheaper at Whole Foods, but then I end up spending $12 on cheese and crackers or something and there goes the bill.
Posted by: Marc | October 31, 2008 10:49 AM | Reply to this comment
Hi Marc,
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. Your comment about $12 cheese and crackers reminded me of another good point; just the other day I jokingly referred to myself as the ultimate aisle shopper (totally lured by whatever is at the end caps). Hadn't occurred to me til now that online groceries would be a good way to curb this to some degree (i.e., staying to the list), but as described in my evaluation, I agree with you that the selection needs to be expanded online if I'm going to be a regular, high volume shopper.
best wishes, Christine
Posted by: Christine Koh - Editor | October 31, 2008 10:56 AM | Reply to this comment
I've used peapod about 5 times now and usually all my orders are mainly non-perishables because I was leary of trying meat and such from them. I finally got up the courage to try come chicken. I was very disappointed. I opened the chicken the day after they delivered it and it was definitely on its way to going bad! I called to complain and they promptly credited my account which I liked, but will not be ordering meat from them again. I think they give the deliveries the perishable stuff that is near or at the due date of going bad. A green bell pepper I ordered had horrible bruising and was spoiling. I love shopping for my groceries online, but peapod has not solved the total problem unfortunately.
Posted by: Isra | October 31, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply to this comment
Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Isra. That's too bad about the perishables -- that was what I was concerned about too, in placing the order, and I was really happy that the quality of the deli meats (they have Nature's Promise turkey and roast beef), chicken, and produce were good. I'm glad at least that they credited your account for the bad chicken.
I'm going to see if I can track down someone at Peapod to address issue of supply re: produce.
Posted by: Christine Koh - Editor | October 31, 2008 11:49 AM | Reply to this comment
The school where I teach uses peapod and we asked our delivery person about bag options. They suggested we send their plastic bags back with them to be reused. Most days they will wait a couple minutes for us to take everything out of the bags so we can return them right away.
Posted by: Eliza | October 31, 2008 7:02 PM | Reply to this comment
I am so glad you posted this. I received their flyer last week and have been considering their service. Real winters are still new to us, and our family also shares 1 car. I hope to utilize Peapod during the weeks where colds, flu, or snow have taken over.
Posted by: Momisodes | November 2, 2008 10:10 PM | Reply to this comment
You can enter a note on specific items on your order. I use it to say that I only want green bananas, etc. I also use it for expiration dates. Although Peapod items have always been fresh, they tend to lean towards close-to-expiring items unless I specify otherwise. I order meat and produce when I use Peapod and have no problem.
I have also used Roche brothers. They're more expensive overall, but have a more unique food selection. You might have more luck with organic foods there.
Posted by: Christy | November 4, 2008 12:09 AM | Reply to this comment
Thank you, Christine, for the thoughtful review of Peapod, and thank you to Boston Mamas readers for your comments. Isra, I want to personally apologize for your disappointing experience. Thank you for calling our customer service staff.
It’s Peapod’s policy to deliver only the best quality meats and vegetables because we know that perishable quality is absolutely critical to our customers. Although your experience indicates that we don’t always get it right, we try hard and welcome customer feedback so that we can address issues immediately and continuously improve. In the past year Peapod has served over 300,000 customers, and we value every one. Thanks to all for your comments!
Posted by: Peg Merzbacher | November 4, 2008 9:09 AM | Reply to this comment
Great post, Christine!
I love PeaPod (so much so that we have advertised for them on our blogs and on Shoestring Magazine :) and have had similarly positive experiences (fantastic in the North End, where, choosing to move the car out of a great parking spot can cause countless headaches in and of itself!)
Have you tried Boston Organics? I've used them in the past. They're wonderful and pretty affordable. Plus, in town at least, their deliveries are made by pedi-cab, so I'll bet they don't charge for fuel.
Here's the link: http://www.bostonorganics.com/
Posted by: Melissa Massello | November 6, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply to this comment
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for your thoughtful comment, plus the extra info about Boston Organics. I did post about them last year and am investigating another reader lead re: deliveries.
Posted by: Christine Koh - Editor | November 6, 2008 4:00 PM | Reply to this comment
We've been using Peapod for close to 3 years. I do prefer to go to the store myself if I have time, but when things get really crazy I place a Peapod order. I have never had any trouble with meat or produce being bad. We did have a problem with a carton of eggs arriving with half of the eggs broken. The biggest issue I have is lack of the selection I'm used to at the actual store.
Posted by: Erin | November 9, 2008 9:23 PM | Reply to this comment
I'm so glad you did this review. It is so often overlooked. I have a couple articles about a few different types of delivery services in the area. Check it out if you like: http://www.examiner.com/x-1240-Boston-Family-Foodie-Examiner~y2008m10d16-Delivery-101--Boston-Organics
Posted by: Leah Klein | November 17, 2008 2:15 PM | Reply to this comment