When I heard that New Seasons had recently begun offering online ordering, I squealed with delight. When I got the chance to test the new service for free as an ecometro.com blogger, my delight only intensified.
Fearless Husband, of course, was a bit more wary. “Remember the last time we did an entire grocery shopping trip at New Seasons?” he reminded me. “You know, the time we went almost $50 over budget?” Ahh, yes. I recalled it well. I’m an admitted impulse shopper, to say nothing of a sucker for stocking up on waaaay more than we need just because there’s a sale. But – but – this organic pasta sauce will never be this cheap, ever again! We must stockpile!
With a promise to Fearless Husband that I would rein myself in, I decided to take New Seasons up on their month worth of gratis delivery (thanks, guys!), and see if it made a difference in my weekly shoppin’ routine on three crucial counts: convenience, affordability, and environmental impact.
Convenience: In a word, abso-friggin’-lutely. I have a two-year-old, and no driver’s license. Even living a brief walk away from a New Seasons store, I came out way ahead on the hassle factor. No more reading labels and comparing prices while my daughter tried to climb out of the shopping cart! No more lugging bags home slung over a stroller handle! Oh, no, now I could pick-n-choose in my pajamas, while everyone else in the house slept, sorting my options by organic or homegrown status and descending or ascending price, scanning the nutritional info at my leisure. I tried both the store pickup and delivery options, and they worked great. One Sunday morning, I placed my order at breakfast. By the time I got done with church in the early afternoon, my week’s worth of groceries were waiting for me at New Seasons, lovingly packed!
Affordability: Some surprisingly good results here. New Seasons ain’t exactly known for being a bargain-hunter’s grocery haunt, but I found that the ability to sit down and plan my menus while I shopped online, watching my running total in the virtual “shopping cart,” really helped avoid the impulse buys and “oh, man, I forgot I already had that in the back of my pantry!” moments I used to face when grocery shopping in person. I managed to stay within our budget (not counting the waived delivery fee, of course!) each time. Plus, New Seasons gives you free goodies with your first three orders (organic strawberry ice cream, anyone?), and has recently started offering a freebie of the week for online orders – which, depending on the item, might almost pay for the $4.95 store pickup fee.
Environmental Impact: Hmm. This is the one facet of my review that gives me pause. I’ll admit, it did feel like “resource-hogging” to hire a delivery service when I live so close to a New Seasons store, but for a major grocery run, one in which I’d have too many bags to carry home myself, I figure a New Seasons biodiesel delivery van making the trip is better than my family’s gas-guzzler SUV. It makes sense to have a few environmentally-friendly vehicles handling deliveries, rather than dozens of individual cars making the pricey and emissions-laden trek to a New Seasons store. (In that respect, the $9.95 delivery option appears the clear eco-winner over store pickup.)
All in all, I was thoroughly impressed. Sure, there are a few quirks, like random items available only in-store, and no coupons accepted for online orders, but considering that New Seasons offers thousands of products to a delivery area that incorporates not only the Portland metro area, but also Vancouver, I’d call those minor issues for an otherwise-stellar service. (Even Fearless Husband agreed it beat toddler-chasing in the aisles.)
“Easy for you to say,” I can hear some of you scoffing. “You got the service for free!”
Well, okay, there’s that, too. I doubt I’d be able to shell out $5-10 every week for grocery delivery, and, yes, there are times when I like to actually browse the store shelves (and sample the yummies from the tasting displays!). But for big holiday occasions, or during sick and stressful times, that soothing green New Seasons online ordering page is like a giant dose of Rescue Remedy (which, yes, you can buy from them online).
P.S. If you want to give it a try, you’ll find a coupon for free delivery or pickup in your Chinook Book!
We also have our first online coupon for $20 off a $100 purchase at New Seasons Online. Download the PDF with the coupon code from their ecometro.com profile. This coupon premiered in our online newsletter. To be the first to get future coupons, sign up for the newsletter by creating your ecometro.com profile.