Are you being bombarded by grocery delivery service flyers? I receive them frequently as well. With this in mind, I decided to perform a comparison between two grocery delivery service companies.
Freshdirect – based out of New York
They claim to have perfect produce, premium meats and seafood, and farm fresh dairy products. FreshDirect has their own coupons and promo codes; at this time they do not accept manufacturer’s coupons. It is a popular service; the first few delivery dates shown had already been reserved for other customers. They delivered everything in labeled cardboard boxes; eggs, bread, and produce; nothing was crushed or broken. The produce looked great, and they carried unique items like pink lemons and produce from various CSA farm shares.
Peapod is a service provided in conjunction with Giant Supermarkets.
Their website was very user friendly with an added bonus: if you shop at Giant, they maintain a list of purchases you made during the last three months. It makes it much easier to navigate and order.
The produce arrived in bags and most of it was overripe. When this happens you cannot give the produce back to the delivery personnel of either company, you must call them right away, and they will send replacements.
NOTE: when ordering, take the time and fill out a special request to inform them you would like your produce, for example, green bananas.
The delivery personnel of both companies were friendly and courteous. They brought my groceries into the house and welcomed me. They advised me about their coupon and other policies.
Email notifications were great: both sent me an email after I placed my order with an estimated time of arrival (ETA). Another email informs you that changes can be made up until a specific time, before your delivery time. You will receive a thank you email afterwards with an incentive to place another order, usually free delivery. I have been receiving weekly emails with reminders and discount incentives from both companies since my initial purchases.
Granted, I think we all want to take the time to pick out every piece of produce, but reality is, in today’s times, some weeks we just can’t do it all – that’s when you order from these guys! My pick, hands down, is Freshdirect, although a little more expensive, I liked the quality of their food and their packaging.
