Online grocery shopping for the elderly has suddenly become very popular. Why? One of the riskiest places for elderly people to catch the Coronavirus is a trip to the grocery store.
There are lots of potential carriers there.
Many carts are not wiped down.
It’s difficult to maintain your distance from everyone.
And have you seen those websites showing the People of Walmart???
You have enough to worry about with your groceries.
Even in good times, it can be hard for seniors to drive to the store. Many of them may need a ride. Which is fine once or twice. Not so much on a regular basis. The cost of a cab adds up quickly. And many family members just don’t have the time to drive Grandma to the store regularly.
That’s why online grocery shopping is so appealing.
Enter Online Grocery Shopping for the Elderly
Yes, seniors aren’t the most technologically savvy group. And they might resist your efforts to teach them. That doesn’t mean you can’t find a way to make it work for them.
One piece of technology that can really help out elderly people at this time is the remote shopping websites. Many stores have a way to shop through their websites. They offer options like either in-store pickup (they pull all the items) or home delivery. With all the Coronavirus restrictions, many times these deliveries mean they will drop off the items and leave.
I’ve found many of these online grocery shopping for the elderly programs have some limitations though. Some only deliver in certain areas. Others will only shop for certain items in the store. You have to go in and buy the rest of the items (like fresh produce, milk or meat).
Kind of defeats the purpose.
Shipt for Online Grocery Shopping
We did find one company that is not one of the big grocery stores. They do, however, have alliances with a lot of the big grocery chains. They are also located in 260 cities throughout America, so hopefully they are close to you.
The company is called Shipt. They are kind of like the Uber of online grocery shopping. Instead of drivers, they pay people (or rather the customers pay these people) to go shop for their customers at local stores.
One nice advantage of Shipt is that you can do the shopping online for your Mom or Dad and have it delivered to them at their home. That way they don’t have to suddenly be the tech guru.
Another benefit is that Shipt doesn’t just shop at grocery stores. You can also shop at pharmacies, pet stores, office supply stores and others. It will depend on your area and what is available.
Shipt is also taking precautions during the Coronavirus to make sure they don’t put anyone at risk in their homes. You can see the latest updates they are making for the Pandemic at their blog.
When you get to their website, you can sign up for an account. Obviously they need to make money, so they have a membership to join. You can pay $99/year or $14/month. If you order more than $35 worth of goods at a time with Shipt, the
You can also find coupons to dramatically reduce these prices.
Once you have signed up, you can start shopping. Here is a video to walk you through the process.
