Shopping online: Should you take the plunge?

AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

Published Jan 22, 2017

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Washington Post - Grocery

guru Chrissy Pate knows how to stack coupons, price match and stockpile her way

to groceries for as much as 80 percent off - even scoring some products free.

She runs the savings website BeCentsAble.net and during the recession held

"coupon parties" where she taught others to shop and save as she

does.

Yet when her Kansas

City-area grocery store started offering online shopping about a month ago,

Pate jumped at the chance to try it, even though there was a delivery fee and

her store did not allow paper coupons or price matching for online orders. Why

would a power shopper be willing to forgo some of her favorite savings strategies

to shop online?

Read also:  Your cues to shop online – no queues

"For shoppers who take

the time to stack coupons and price match, shopping in-store will bring bigger

savings," Pate explained. "But, let's face it, many people are never

going to do that and, for them, online shopping is another way to save, because

you can keep an eye on your running total as you shop to stick to your

budget."

So Pate took the plunge.

"Right after I placed my order, I went to the store to test out what the

price difference would have been," she said, "and I found everything

I ordered was the same price at the store."

Marking up

Whether grocers mark up

prices in their online stores is a big question. I checked prices at Giant and

Safeway, two of the largest grocery chains in the country, against those of

their own delivery services. The total for 10 popular products at both chains'

brick-and-mortar locations came to about $45. Their online store totals were

within a dollar or two of that, not counting delivery. Of course, I priced only

10 items, but when the website Cheapism.com compared stores' online and

in-store prices it also found that they were pretty consistent.

So if we consider that

settled, then it's all about whether you can make back the delivery fee. Stores

charge between $7.95 and $12.95 to deliver your groceries, depending on the

size of your purchase. You may also want to tip your driver, although some

stores don't allow it.

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You offset a little of that

money right away because you do not have to pay for gas, but the bigger benefit

is the time saved by skipping the trip. Shopping online saves time in other

ways, too. First, even on your very first online shopping trip, if you enter

your loyalty card number, all the products you've bought at the store in the

past should pop up as a customised shopping list. Just click the ones you'd

like to buy again and you're done. No inefficient wandering from aisle to

aisle. Second, shopping from home also means you can check your pantry to see

whether you need something, rather than guessing and wasting food. Third,

taking kids to the supermarket inevitably takes more time. Delivery solves

that. "You can shop in your PJs after the kids are in bed," Pate

points out.

Earning back

But by far the best way to

earn back your delivery fee is by using the online store's running cost tally

as you shop. "A lot of people like that ability to manage their budget and

take things out of their cart if they need to," said Peg Merzbacher of

Giant's Peapod delivery service. And you can do it without making a scene in

the checkout line.

The computer's knack for

sorting also can help you shop around. "We make it easy to sort your

selections by unit price," Merzbacher said. "That's a little

cumbersome to do in-store, looking up and down the shelves, but it's easy to do

online."

Personally, when I have

time, I enjoy going to the grocery store to see what's new and what's in

season. I think of this as "inspiration" for my cooking. Others would

call it by another I-word: "impulse buying." Shopping online

short-circuits those unplanned purchases. "For us, it's kind of

challenging, because we may be losing some of the impulse buys,"

Merzbacher said.

Read also:  Online shopping grows robustly

Bottom line for your bottom

line: If you're a super shopper with the time and discipline to stack coupons,

price match and shop in-person, that's how you will save more money. But if

you're more of a frazzled shopper, you could well do better by shopping online,

sidestepping impulse buys and watching that running total so you stay on

budget.

More tips for grocery savings

Online:

- Some stores allow you to

use paper coupons for online orders by presenting them to your driver. Others

have virtual coupons right on their websites.

- Look for tools that list

products you have purchased in the past that are currently on sale.

- Some grocers have coupon

codes for free delivery or offer free delivery for orders over a certain dollar

amount. Manufacturers will sometimes pay for your delivery if you buy a certain

amount of their products.

- When certain delivery time

slots are not filling up, stores often discount them.

In-store:

- As I compared in-store and

online prices, I saw several in-store deals that were not available online.

Keep an eye out.

- Advanced couponers know

that you can usually "stack" manufacturer and store coupons.

- To save the most, try

stocking up on nonperishables when they are at their cheapest, rather than when

you need them.

- Scan all the store

circulars in your area, then cherry-pick the best deals all at one store that

price matches. This usually works in-store only.

Leamy is a 13-time Emmy winner and 25-year consumer

advocate for programs such as "Good Morning America" and "The

Dr. Oz Show." Connect with her at leamy.com and on Twitter:

@ElisabethLeamy.

WASHINGTON POST

 

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