Curbside Express at Giant Eagle Market District

I was fortunate enough to test out the new Curbside Express service at Giant Eagle Market District in Robinson courtesy of the social media team there the other day. This is what ensued…

Sunday Night

8:58 p.m. Think about grocery shopping.

8:59 p.m. Think about how much I don’t want to grocery shop.

9:03 p.m. Remember that Market District will shop for you.

9:03 p.m. Cry a single tear of joy.

9:07 p.m. Remember the only site that has the service available is in Robinson (please bring this to Shadyside. Thank you).

9:08 p.m. Cry  several soft tears.

Monday

9:30 a.m. Visit Market District website to grocery shop and multi-task.

9:31 a.m. Get distracted by nice website design and picture of cheeseburger.

9:37 a.m. Locate Curbside Express link (tip: upper middle-right).

9:37 a.m. Read how it works and get to shopping.

9:38 a.m. Immediately ignore the “Reserve a Time” prompt and click on a department.

9:42 a.m. Get distracted by amount of choices available. (I think shopping would be easier if the site had a grocery store-like visual format. At least for me, a layout like Pinterst would make finding items so much easier than a list.)

9:42 a.m. Create profile instead of continuing to grocery shop.

9:45 a.m. Fail at putting in Advantage Card number (tip: it’s the whole number including those numbers you don’t think you need to include).

9:46 a.m. Give up my dream of grocery shopping online for the day.

8:47 p.m. Open Curbside Express while watching Dancing with the Stars

8:48 p.m. Wonder how this show is still on television (Answer: because of the same people who watch shows like Dance Moms).

8:49 p.m. Become over-whelmed by my lack of list and variety of options (tip: make a list like you would if you were going to the store).

9:00 p.m. Notice I only have 2 things in my shopping cart.

9:01 p.m. Complain about only having 2 things in my shopping cart.

9:23 p.m. 22 minutes later and I have 4 things in my cart.

9:24 p.m. Wish there was nutritional information and picture of packaging for each product.

9:25 p.m. Lament.

9:31 p.m. Consider starting a riot over the fact that I can’t find or remember the name of the Lean Cuisine tv dinner I enjoy (Basically the only one that doesn’t have meat in it which is a whole separate riot in and of itself).

9:35 p.m. Give up.

10:37 p.m. Inform my brother he has to complete the grocery shopping because I.just.can’t.do.it.
Tuesday

8:22 a.m. Look at shopping cart and see my brother actually was responsible for once.

8:29 a.m. Add a few items and proceed to check out (One of the best features, for me at least, was the ability to instantly see how much I was spending.).

9:01 a.m. Realize I can’t pick the groceries up today and punch the sky which is different than Kanye who “touched the sky” (tip 1: reserve a time when they tell you, tip 2: there is a 4 hour pre-order time period).

9:03 a.m. Blame my brother for this travesty and the fact I might starve.

9:05 a.m. Walk through the steps of placing the order and set pick-up time for Wednesday.

9:07 a.m. Sigh a sigh of relief because I won’t be starving and because someone else will be grocery shopping for me!

9:15 a.m. Receive confirmation email with grocery list and time of pick-up.
Wednesday

3:57 p.m. Receive call from Market District employee telling me they are out of blood oranges and Deluxe French Bread Pizzas (apparently I make great grocery choices).

3:58 p.m. Allow substitutions and dream about dinner.

5:15 p.m. My brother’s car dies in the slow lane on 376.

5:15 p.m. Become the recipiant of severel middle fingers.

5:16 p.m. A miracle happens and his car starts. Obviously someone wants us to pick up groceries.

6:32 p.m. Call the number provided on my confirmation email.

6:33 p.m. Pay woman and Will (nice meeting you) puts my groceries into my trunk (Some how they fit all my groceries into 6 bags. I usually have 27 no matter what I buy. Please come and pack my life Market District).

6:34 p.m. While woman gets my change, Will explains the receipt to me.

6:35 p.m. Drive away with a trunk full of goods.

Overall, the experience was very enjoyable. Anything that prevents me from going to the grocery store and shopping is a-ok in my book. A few tips: 1. Be specific and leave comments about items. Like I got sliced lunchmeat instead of chipped like I wanted. They can’t read minds people. 2. Make a list. I usually only grocery shop once ever 3-4 weeks so I think that’s why I felt overwhelmed with the process. It would’ve have been way easier with a list. 3. The service fee ($4.95) for your first Curbside Express experience is FREE! So why not give it a try?

I’d totally use this service again. It’s quick and painless if you are patient and are prepared. Bravo Market District. Bravo!

(Disclaimer: Giant Eagle Market District supplied us with one $100 gift card to try out this new service.)