a mom's review : aisles online

Ok, moms. If I were to tell you that you could gain some extra time to spend with your kiddos, you would totally jump on the opportunity, right? And if I told you it could help you avoid kids throwing tantrums in the store because they HAVE to have the oreos, trying to maneuver a shopping cart through the after-work shopping crowds, and overflowing carts due to the space consumed by the baby carrier in the basket, you would be crazy to turn that opportunity down. So, I gave it a shot and tried Hy-Vee's Aisles Online.

I will admit I was a little skeptical when I saw that Hy-Vee offered an online grocery service, but figured if someone was willing to do my grocery shopping for me, by all means I'd let them go for it! So I created an account, logged on and started making my online shopping list.

Sure, it's a little cumbersome at first--almost the same 'lost' type of feeling you get when you try shopping in a store you don't frequent often and don't know where things you need are located--but after adding a few things to my virtual shopping cart, I found there were some major benefits to online grocery shopping:

-Price Comparison : Sure I could stand and pace the long aisles of the store to do cost comparisons, but it's much easier and faster to just scroll and quickly see the price differences between like items. For a mom trying to grocery shop on a budget, this helps me make better, more cost effective choices.

-Budget Aware : Countless times I would go to the grocery store after work when I was the most hungry only to find myself up at the register looking at the overall bill with the look of horror on my face. With online shopping I can spot check where I am in my overall bill as I go rather than getting to the check-out counter where I'm locked in to the items I put on the conveyer belt. Maybe I don't need those Milano cookies afterall....

-Online Recipes : I figured I'd try a new recipe (Hy-Vee recipes typically don't disappoint) and was happy to find that with one click of a button, all the items in the recipe would be added to my cart without having to peck and hunt for each item. Easy peasy.

-Fuel Saver : Finding the fuel saver items in the store was always tricky to me. I'd always see the tags for items on sale with the red graphic and immediately think it was the fuel saver. This would leave me disappointed after checking out and seeing a measly "$0.01 per gallon saved" on my printed receipt. Online I can click the "Fuel Saver" tab and immediately see all the items available and how much it saves per gallon. I'll admit I've made some meals based around some of the items on this list.

Once my cart was full and my week's menu was set, I checked out. The first try at this my bill was only around $45 so I didn't qualify for the waived online shopping or delivery fee, but $2.95 to pay to save an hour of my time meandering the store was well worth every penny. I selected my pick-up time of 5-6pm and stopped by on my way home from work. They had a couple designated spots next to the Expectant Mother parking (which is awesome by the way) strictly for pick-up. The signs give the phone number to call to let them know you've arrived. It maybe takes them 5-10 minutes and they're at your car to load everything. A quick signature on their sheet and away you go. Convenient much?

The second online shopping attempt earlier this week, I found I had just over $100 which meant I qualified for free pick up or delivery. I thought I'd give delivery a chance so I tried to change my preference. Unfortunately it tried changing my home store and told me if I wanted to continue with delivery that all items would be removed from my cart. At that point I my online cart was full with a weeks load of food and I was not about to start over from scratch. So for future reference, if you think you might break that $100 limit, start by setting yourself up for delivery rather than trying to change it after the fact. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't easier to make that change, but I understand why it's set up the way it is.

Needless to say, I probably will continue doing my grocery shopping online from here on out. But next time, I'm keeping the Milanos...