So my first attempt at buying the 2 hour delivery didn’t go well. I left stuff in my cart and the day after 3 of the 4 items went up in price. Maybe I have bad luck or chose items in some type of discount section that amazon showed me.
Anyway, it wasn’t a great first attempt. I only had 4 items and was going to make it larger but haven’t yet. Here is a screenshot of the items…all brands I haven’t tried yet.
Used the service twice more in NJ and once in MA. Recd orders well under the 2 hr mark. One delivery req a sub. I didnt want the suggested sub but txt my own sub to the shopper thru the app in live time and recd exactly what I asked for. I asked if they will del to a parked tour bus and the answer was yes! Score. Im sold.
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The Whole Foods delivery service has come at the cost of severely degrading the shopping experience of regular customers as half or more of the “shoppers” in stores are dashing around fulfilling orders most of the day, crowding up the aisles to Costco-like conditions. This can only be avoided by coming in an hour before close.
The butcher and seafood counters take longer to serve customers in front of them because they are busy fulfilling online orders. I once had the seafood guy tell me to “come back in 5-10 minutes” because he was fulfilling an online order. What kind of customer service is that?
Great for me who sat on my sofa selecting my food for delivery within two hours. Bad for you who went in-person. There is no hierarchy to the money we are both spending. In fact, my patronage may be more valuable as Amazon knows more about my buying habits than yours. It’s a new world.
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Your patronage is probably way more valuable than mine as I will only pay with - dare I say it - cash at WH.
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If I may ask, what town are you in? I wonder if that has something to do with it. In Middletown nj WF I have never seen anything like this. In fact, I don’t remember even seeing a person collecting for an on line order. Generally I am there after 630 in a weekday.
Not WF, but I see more and more ‘shoppers’ in the Neptune and Shrewsbury ShopRites when I’m in those stores, so I do think it’s getting more common. No surprise that during this PANIC that there are even more of them.
Standing close to 30 mins at the deli counter in ShopRite/NJ while still needing to shop the rest of a very busy grocery store was no longer time well spent. The large store is best traveled late at night but by then most specials are sold out and staff have closed out.
While WF will never be a sole grocer for me, either in store or home delivery, I am very glad the delivery is reliable.
The experience of food shopping has become a mall experience. While I enjoy getting foodstuffs, I detest the parking congestion, rude shoppers, time it requires and even chance weather which can create even bigger headaches. Call me spoiled but I spend enough time on the road and standing at work to choose my battles enjoying a meal.
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Not sure about that. Most shoppers have Amazon prime. WF is undoubtedly recording every item I buy and doing something with that information.
Online is convenient, but it dehumanizes the experience, and along with other changes I’ve observed (stores no longer have control over ordering), it’s rotting the core that made Whole Foods what it is. Sadly, Amazon knows full well that there aren’t plausible alternatives to Whole Foods and can pretty much do as they please.
I live in the SFBA, and I’m far from the only one noticing this problem.
Employees are completely demoralized. I spoke with a store manager, who was careful in his words about what he said to me, but I could tell between the lines that he is demoralized too.
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Actually, they are not the only plausible source. They are easy and good, they are, but not irreplaceable. On the East Coast they have Wegmans and on the west coast, we have Sprouts and many discount grocers that also offer organics - Costco, Grocery Outlet, and even Super King (Los Angeles) and Ralphs (LA’s branch of Kroger) . They all offer versions of what used to be very hard to find speciality/organic foods. (The Simple Truth line at Ralph’s/Kroger is surprisingly good.) They may not replace WF in one stop but, they give us options we can piece together
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Whole Foods is within 2 miles and covers all needs in one convenient place. Costco has a fantastic selection, but it has limited hours, is a 20 min drive away in no traffic, not to mention the hassle and stress of shopping there.
There are plenty of mid-tier markets that cover the mid ground, and they do offer some organic produce, but Whole Foods, even with all of Amazon’s cuts, is still without compare for its produce, seafood and meat selection, for a western market. I do go to the Japanese market too in particular, but again, it’s out of the way for me.
A local business owner once told me that you’re most likely to habitually patronize places within 2.7 miles of your home (“e” in mathematical terms"). As arbitrary as that seems, it seems to hold true. Outside the 5-10 minute range, it changes from something I can drop by to something I have to go out of my way for. What if I need to pick something up, and it’s rush hour? Those further options are no longer feasible.
I can’t speak to working conditions but under new ownership WF was bound to change. We can point to the founder for selling in the first place. It makes sense that Prime memberships would become another item to sell at WF. We still have choice as consumers to shop there or not; to use online shopping or join Prime. It’s only a part of my overall shopping routine anyway.
Given the 12 grocery options I have within a few miles of my home, I trust competitive pricing still drives consumer loyalty.
I can think of dozens of jobs far more demoralizing than working at WFs. I meet the driver face to face with every delivery, add an additional tip at the door. The shopper is tipped thru the app order. When I shop at the grocery store, I don’t tip the cashiers.
During this pandemic, the public is being encouraged to stay home. Thank goodness home delivery was already in place for folks.
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And I do agree that in these trying times, home delivery is a reasonable perk. I’ll make clear now that what I’ve said and observed was happening well before the pandemic. 
I appreciate your comments.
On the other hand, for me, there are two Costcos closer than the nearest Whole Foods, and both Shoprite and Aldi have a lot of organic produce and packaged products at much better prices. Also, I usually shop at Costco mid-afternoon mid-week when it isn’t very crowded, and never on weekends.
I don’t need grocery shopping to be humanized. I prefer the human contact that I select and is more important to me - time at home with family vs with with strangers in a store. Or just to relax for those two hours.
It’s just a matter of what you value more I guess. You value interaction with the community (which I get and is important). And selecting your own food probably? I don’t need to wrestle with shoppers in order to select the most pristine avocado and the best cut of pork. I am very happy with what the in-house shoppers select. I love the convenience of delivery. I live in Manhattan and have been accustomed to deliveries for decades and living in a city introduces community in many ways throughout the day.
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They are still scanning the items and that tells them a lot about the needs/demographics of that particular store.
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True but that’s more general info than identifying me specifically. I’m ok with that. I know there are a bazillion ways for info to get around. I just don’t to make It any easier for various specific enterprises.
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I value being able to see the food in front of me. I don’t plan to buy everything on a list and leave things to spontaneity and like to be surprised by what’s in season or just look good that day, things that may not be reflected when you order online. Naturally, I also like to shop at farmers markets (and overseas in wet markets) for the same reason. Different strokes for different folks, as you suggest.
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