Shoppers are welcoming news that retail giant Costco plans to bring online grocery delivery to Canadians.
Online home grocery delivery was already successfully launched in theUnited States, prompting Costco to look at rolling out the service further to the north.
In an email, Canadian Costco spokesperson Ron Damiani writes:
“We are currently working on this initiative but have no defined timeline as of yet.”
Still, some customers in Winnipeg told CTV News they thought the service would be popular with many consumers.
One of those customers was Chris Giesbrecht, who heads to Costco for “big shops” a few times a year.
A resident of Winkler Manitoba, Giesbrecht hasn’t tried home grocery delivery but said she has many friends who have.
“People love it. Because they don’t have to be among other people, they don’t have to pick up their stuff,” said Giesbrecht.
While Giesbrecht said she didn’t expect to be using the service due to location, she guessed many people would.
“Cause everybody’s busy, busy, busy. And it does save time,” said Giesbrecht.
Other Costco shoppers who spoke to CTV News said while they might use the service occasionally, they still planned to brave the busy aisles.
“I don’t really feel like eating until I go to the store, so I like to browse around,” said one shopper.
“It’d be an option yah, but we’re usually out and about anyway so it’s on my way,” said another.
David Camfield, associate professor of labour studies and sociology at the University of Manitoba, told CTV Newsthe growing demand for services like online grocery shopping could relate to a societal shift.
“Now people feel a real time squeeze. You have more households where it’s two adults: both working full time,” said Camfield.
“And they’re trying to juggle schedules with kids and so on.”
Camfield said for some, the appeal of online grocery shopping could also come from a need to have more alone time in a hectic world.
“Maybe some people are feeling stressed out, and just the human interaction in a busy grocery store is something they want to avoid if they’re able to,” said Camfield.
A number of retailers in Winnipeg already offer services beyond the basic shopping experience, including Save-On-Foods which offers online grocery delivery.
Superstore has a “click & collect” option where shoppers can order groceries and have the items delivered to their car in the parking lot.
Safeway has a delivery option for shoppers already in the store.
Family Foods and Foodfare have a service available where shoppers can phone in grocery orders which are then delivered to their home.
