Thursday, August 31, 2006

online shopping at Busch's

Busch's provides online grocery shopping so you could shop online and have it ready to be picked up. You can even pay (or trade favors with) someone to go to grocery store for you and avoid the trip. People could also use the time that is saved in the store to ride their bike there. I know time is a big issue for people like me with kids.
website: www.buschs.com

Contributed by: Karen Smith

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

The website is a little sparse on explanation; so how does this work? Do they have the stuff bagged and ready for you at the customer service counter? Do the need to know exactly when you'll be there? (Or will you end up with melted ice cream if you miss your bus and show up an hour late?)

Karen Smith said...

Sorry Bruce, that's a misattribution, I actually didn't know that Busch's offers on line shopping.

If you want to make sure your ice cream is safe, order from Calder's! We just started weekly calder's delivery and we *love* it! There's more info somewhere on this site.

P.S. Are the Bruce Fields from math a few years back?

Anonymous said...

"If you want to make sure your ice cream is safe, order from Calder's!"

It's an attractive idea, but I think I'd assumed it was going to end up a little expensive for just two people (one not a big milk drinker). But maybe I should check just to make sure....

"Are the Bruce Fields from math a few years back?"

Yup! Erm, I should try to show up for seminars a little more often....

Scott said...

a quick update:
I've written to Busch's "We Listen" email address a couple times now, inquiring about more specific details on this service. Unfortunately, they seem to be listening but not responding. I haven't heard anything back.

If other's have used this service, maybe they can answer Bruce's questions above.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Scott! Maybe I'll give it a try some time just out of curiosity....

Unknown said...

Buying groceries online at Busch's. I tried this out today.

brucefields asked "Do they have the stuff bagged and ready for you at the customer service counter?"

Answer: It's not bagged up there, but that's where you go to get it. The service associate disappeared back into the store somewhere and wheeled out my modest order in one of those cute compact carts that Busch's has pioneered on the local grocery scene. It'll be bagged in your choice of paper or plastic, which you indicate when you place the order online.

brucefields asked: "Do they need to know exactly when you'll be there?"

Answer: when you order, you're offered a selection of one-hour windows for scheduled pickup ranging over the next several days. (Pricing is charged based on the day you pick it up, not the day you place the order) I placed the order at 9:30am and the first available pickup window was 1:00-1:59pm, which the system defaults to. I arrived on my bike at 1:30pm.

brucefields asked: "Or will you end up with melted ice cream if you miss your bus and show up an hour late?"

Answer: No. I ordered some ground beef and some ice-cream just to test out this issue. When the service associate brought out the cart, one of the cashiers gave him a heads up that he'd forgotten the freezer part of the order. So he went back and fetched the ice-cream. This indicates that the cold and cool stuff are kept cold and cool right up until you arrive to pick it up.

Other misc:

The total time elapased from entering the store to heading back out the door (having simply dumped the order into my giant messenger bag) was 4 minutes 10 seconds.

Service charge for the online ordering was $6.95.

It's possible to define and store different lists with your account if you're going to buy a standard set of items.

You can specify whether substitutions are allowed, item-by-item.

You can add notes to each item ordered. I used this feature to indicate that while I was not allowing a substitution for the 1 pound of ground beef I ordered, I was willing to accept a package of ground beef that was not eactly 1.00 pounds. They gave me one that was 1.02 pounds.

Here's the confirmation email

-----Confirmation Email------
Order Number: 1-060913-951
Order Date: 09/13/06 09:32 AM
Order Status: OPEN-Order Submitted & Pending
Customer Name:
DELETED

Bag Preference: Plastic

Pickup Date: 09/13/06
Pickup Time: 01:00 PM-01:59 PM

Credit Card Information
DELETED

Products

1. Kelloggs Pop Tarts Frosted Strawberry 12ct - 22 Oz
UPC: 3800031720Qty: 1.0ea $3.49/ea $3.49

2. Frito Lay Lays Baked Cheddar Sour Cream - 10 Oz
UPC: 2840004851Qty: 1.0ea $3.00/ea $3.00

3. Bryers Ice Cream Natural Vanilla - 56 Oz
UPC: 7756725423Qty: 1.0ea $5.49/ea $5.49

4. Bread Zingermans Farm Loaf - 1.5 Lb
UPC: 21037200000Qty: 1.0lb $5.25/lb $5.25

5. Ground Chuck
UPC: 20164400000Qty: 1.0lb $2.29/lb $2.29
Item Note:weight doesn't have to be exact


Subtotal: $ 19.52
Tax: $ 0.00
Service Fee: $ 6.95
Total: $ 26.47

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the thorough report, HD!

Anonymous said...

Additional info:

Being a former Manager for the company the info listed above is correct.

More often then not the managers get the order shortly after you send; the reason for the time span is to give us enough time to get all your items, ring it up and bag it. As mention freezer items are placed in our freezers, dairy is dairy coolers and so on till picked up. For some location you can even drive up to the door to have your items loaded or have one of the service clerks take it out to your car.

As for the lack of response I'm sorry about that and will let the correct people know about this situation. I would like to point out though that this is a family owed company they have one or two people set up to answer all question sent thru. However, if you want you can call the saline branch where the HR is located.