NEW GLASGOW
On Wednesday, Sarah Pettipas was busy filling a cart at Superstore in New Glasgow, only she wasn’t shopping for herself.
The store employee was shopping for customers who had placed orders online to pick up later at the location.
Loblaw Companies Limited, which owns the New Glasgow Superstore, officially expanded its online grocery service into four more communities in Nova Scotia, including New Glasgow, on Wednesday and already staff have been busy filling those orders.
This service, the first of its kind in the Atlantic region, lets customers shop for all their groceries online, then schedule a convenient time to pick up their order at their local Atlantic Superstore. As long as they are paying with a debit or credit card, customers don’t even have to leave their car. The cost for the service is $3 before 5 p.m. on weekdays and $5 for evenings and weekends.
Amy Fraser was one of the first people to try out the service and said she loved it. She currently is laid up with a leg brace and crutches, so has trouble shopping while pushing a cart. She placed her order at 9 a.m. and said she received a call shortly afterward to tell her it was ready.
“This made it so easy for me to get what I needed,” she said. “They even brought out a treat for my pup who was waiting in the car.”
She said the produce was perfect and everything was exactly like she had ordered.
Shopping online at www.atlanticsuperstore.ca, customers can browse and add all the products to their grocery cart, including a local assortment. Once they confirm their order online, a customer can pick it up in as little as two hours. Each order is prepared by a dedicated personal shopper who will select the freshest items possible and make sure everything in the customer’s order is exactly how they want it, keeping the customer’s personal preferences in mind.
“We are dedicated to making our customers’ lives easier and more convenient,” said Mark Boudreau, director of Corporate Affairs for Loblaw Atlantic. “Our online shopping allows them to order fresh and pantry items from their home, their work or wherever they are, and pick them up at a time that best fits with their schedule. This service has been extremely successful in other markets. As we bring it to our Atlantic Superstore customers in each community, we’ve continued to fine-tune it, ensuring our product offering reflects all the local favourites and best-selling brands our customers expect.”
In Nova Scotia, select Atlantic Superstore locations first launched the service in December 2017. As of mid-April 2018, all Atlantic Superstore customers throughout the province will have access to the new service.
Pettipas said she thinks it will be particularly beneficial for elderly people and parents with large families who struggle to complete their grocery trips with their kids.
“It’s going to save a lot of time,” she said.
Sobeys, which was founded in Stellarton and operates four stores in Pictou County, announced in January that it is also taking steps towards online grocery shopping.
“We currently have e-commerce home delivery or store pick-up options in Quebec and in B.C.,” said Paul MacLeod, Sobeys VP for Store Operations in Atlantic Canada. “Sobeys also recently announced a partnership with Ocado to bring the world’s most innovative online grocery platform to Canada.
“The early stages of our plan include building our first customer fulfilment centre in Ontario to begin home delivery in the spring of 2020. We will share more details as this plan unfolds. We have big plans to build the best e-commerce solution in Canada but will always stay focused on proudly serving our customers in our stores.”
