Best Grocery Hacks for 2017
The grocery business is changing beyond recognition with entire chains disappearing, and new technologies disrupting everything. This means that there are some great new hacks for grocery shoppers out there.
Some of the best grocery-shopping hacks for 2017 include:
- Buy groceries through Jet.com. Jet is a fairly new online retailer recently acquired by Walmart. The big advantage to Jet.com is that you can buy some of the large sizes of name-brand products; like Lipton Tea and Quaker Oats, usually only found at club stores; such as Sam’s Club and Costco, without buying a membership. Prices are fairly good, 312 bags of Lipton Tea costs around $9.50 on Jet. Some of the popular Kirkland Signature products found at Costco are also available through Jet. Free two-day shipping is available for orders over $35. Jet also offers lots of discounts including price cuts for larger orders, buying with a debit card and forgoing returns.
- Use Kroger ClickList. Many Kroger supermarkets now offer ClickList a service that lets you order items online then pick them up at curbside. The big advantage to click list is that Kroger’s employees will do the shopping for you. All you to do is to pay and pick it up. Kroger operates under a wide variety of names; including Ralph’s, Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter, Smith’s, Fry’s, and King Soopers, and not every store offers Clicklist. This website will tell you if Kroger is operating in your area and under what name. You will have to check your local Kroger website to see if ClickList is available in your area. Yes you can use your Kroger loyalty card and accumulate fuel points with ClickList.
- Buy a Walmart Shipping Pass. The Walmart Shipping Pass gives you free two-day shipping on items ordered directly from Walmart, including lots of groceries. If you just want to order groceries or household supplies online; the Shipping Pass is a better deal than Amazon Prime because it costs $49 a year. To add icing to the cake, many of Walmart.com’s prices are lower than Amazon’s.
- Join Amazon Prime. Yes it is a little pricey but Amazon has been adding a lot of groceries lately and there are some really good deals. I found five pounds of Quaker Oats selling there for the same price as Sam’s Club. There are also some great added perks such as very low prices on office supplies, Prime Video and Prime Music. The big advantage is that Amazon Prime offers free-two day shipping on items ordered directly from Amazon.
- Use Walmart Pay. This payment app makes life simpler by letting you pay with any of your credit or debit cards by simply typing in a pin and scanning a barcode. Direct payment from bank accounts is not available but it works with most credit, debit and gift cards including Discover, American Express, Visa and MasterCard. Walmart Pay also works with electronic gift cards and Walmart gift cards. Unlike Apple Pay and Android Pay, you can use this app at all Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in the United States.
- Use Walmart Grocery Pickup. Like ClickList, this service lets you order online and have Walmart’s associates do the shopping for you. You just pick the order up from the store. There is a $50 minimum order but discount codes are available at the website. If you live around Thornton, Colorado, or Huntsville, Alabama, Walmart is testing Pickup and Fuel convenience stores where you can grab your order and fill your tank. The retail giant is also testing a drive up grocery pickup similar to a drive up bank in Minnesota.
- Join Safeway or Kroger’s loyalty card programs. These programs give you a wide variety of discounts for just wiping a card and access to digital coupons. More importantly you can accumulate gas points that let you save up to $1 a gallon at participating filling stations. Kroger also offers loyalty card holders 50 fuel points for participating in a survey. Kroger also provides extra rewards for specific purchases.
Exciting changes are happening in the grocery industry and giving you more opportunities to save than ever before. Taking advantage of them might make shopping easier and less costly.
