by: Maurice McCormick

This goes out to all my young urban male professionals out there who don’t have time to run to the grocery store because of your crazy work schedule and new-found gym obsession, not to mention all that time you’re spending with your special girl or guy. So when is there time to go to the store and stock up on healthy goodies? Well, I have discovered this great online grocery delivery service called Peapod.com. And no, it is not a new company, but it’s new to me and helps me curb my spending by allowing me to prepare my own meals instead of visiting different fast food joints on a nightly basis. 

So basically, how it works is that you first create a quick user profile, providing information about your geographical location. From there, the system will tell you if they deliver in your area or not. If they do, you will enter the site and move around it just like you would in the grocery store, by browsing the aisles. 

The online aisles are broken up into categories, such as Produce, Meat and Seafood, Deli, Prepared Foods, Health and Beauty, and Wine and Spirits. You simply click on the aisle and search for the item you would like to buy. Every product in the online store has a detailed description of size, unit price (if applicable), and price. When you come across an item you would like to purchase, enter the quantity number and press the BUY button. This adds the item to your shopping cart, which is displayed on the right-hand side of the page along with your running total. If you want to remove an item from your shopping cart, simply change the quantity to zero and the item is removed. No more running around trying to put that ground beef back in the meat section of the grocery store. They must have known that I am extremely lazy when they created this…lol. 

Now, when you are all ready to check out, simply click on the CHECKOUT button and you are brought to the DELIVERY TIMES page, which allows you to choose the time you would like your groceries delivered. On the day of delivery, your groceries are brought to your home by a Peapod delivery person who places the groceries wherever you like and allows you to review each item to ensure 100% satisfaction. 

You can also choose Unattended Delivery Service where your groceries are left in insulated bins in a secure location at your home. However, the caveat is that this service only works for people who own their own home and you have to pre-pay either by credit card or Peapod Direct Check (PDC). 

The price for this service is about $10 to $15 for delivery to cover fuel and a convenience fee; this is well worth it in my opinion. So if you get a chance, go check out Peapod.com and try it yourself.