Online Shopping Trends: TO-GO Shopping
Does it really make for more convenience?
Over the last 3 years, shopping trends have drastically changed. When visiting stores prior, shelves would be packed, prices were reasonable, and shopping was kind of fun. While some stores were already transitioning to online order pick up in the stores, Food Lion in Mountain City, Tn did not have that option. In the past, shoppers only had the option to shop in the store.
In 2020 when Covid-19 developed, many stores began taking measures to keep customers and workers safe. Many people were scared to leave their homes, which made obtaining everyday goods next to impossible. As this situation began to linger, measures were taken to ensure people’s needs were met.
The measures taken were plexiglass windows to separate the customers from the workers, masking, hand sanitizer stations and grocery to-go orders. These measures were mostly effective in mitigating the spread of Covid-19 and keeping everyone safe. Although most of those precautions have been removed, to-go orders are still being utilized as a way of convenience. Forbes reports 81% of adults use a smartphone. Grocery orders can be placed on a computer or on a smartphone.
When shopping online with Food Lion, the process is relatively simple. The customer selects groceries, chooses a pick-up time and pays. When the order is received by Food Lion, the associate will communicate with the customer while shopping. When the order is ready, the customer will pull into one of the spots designated and notify the associate inside. The associate will then deliver the orders to the customers vehicle waiting outside.
With Food Lion only offering grocery to-go orders in light of the Pandemic, it has brought other needed services to Mountain City as well. Consumers can now utilize services such as Door Dash to have goods delivered from most stores in the community. This allows for customers who are not as mobile, or maybe sick to receive goods they might otherwise have trouble in obtaining.
Although Covid-19 brought about so much sadness and destruction, we now see conveniences that would otherwise have been overlooked. According to Digital 360, online shopping is on the rise as a result of the Pandemic. With online shopping on the rise, it leaves one to wonder how shopping will continue to change in the future as technology advances.
Whether you like online shopping or not, it looks like it is here to stay for the time being. But will this be the end of brick-and-mortar stores, or does it open the way for even more unseen advances?
