Shopping Amazon Fresh

There was a lively discussion on our NextDoor forum about the best grocery store. There were as many answers as there were grocery stores! But the summary for all is that it depends most voted Costco while some voted Aldi or their local chain. I live in Southern California, near the wine country, in the Inland Empire. We trade a better cost of living for being an hour from LA and San Diego.

If you have money to burn, Whole Foods gets my vote. It always features a variety of local and exotic produce, whole grains, fresh seafood, a range of cheeses, pre-made items, and a delicious bakery that makes everything from scratch. But my grocery bill is always higher there than at Aldi’s or Trader Joe’s.

For me, the cheapest stores are always Sprouts, Aldi’s, and Trader Joe’s. I love how they feature local foods and in-season produce. Their offerings are minimal compared to the bigger chain stores, which makes them easier to navigate.

But then, a local chain grocer nearby offers a wide range of choices. It gets my pick when using Instacart because they never seem to be out of anything, and often have specials on whole chickens.

You can’t go wrong in any grocery store because shopping there means you'll prepare more meals at home!

I might be a hybrid shopper because I use Instacart and shop in person at Trader Joe’s and farm stands as much as possible. I'm really a foodie who loves food adventures!

But what about Amazon Fresh? What is this new concept? It's not new, but it has recently broken the 50-store mark across the US. And it’s expanding to 1000 more cities! We have one near me, so I decided to go in after seeing it on the NextDoor list.

It was different but fun. Amazon is known for many things, some good and some bad, but it is always a “reinventor” of sorts. And they reinvented grocery shopping with their “Amazon Fresh” store.

If you have their app, you can click on "Groceries," then "Amazon Fresh," and obtain your QR code, which allows you to check out of Amazon Fresh using any of your saved Amazon payments in the app.

So, you take the Amazon Fresh cart, scan your QR code, and shop. The cart scans every barcode and weighs the produce as you shop, always displaying the total. At first, it feels like you have to think too much, but after 2-3 items, it feels like old hat.

I would have to describe Amazon Fresh as having the most popular grocery items. They don’t have all the aisles of toys and home goods. It is all about stocking what most people buy. This might mean they don’t have Valencia rice, which I wanted for a Paella. (But I decided on a medium-grain sushi rice after googling a substitute.) But they had heirloom tomatoes and a decent selection for what I had on my shopping list.

Now, the golden reason you would want to shop there is that when a fresh protein item, like fish, is past its prime, they discount it by half! I got a 12-ounce salmon fillet on a cedar board priced initially at $9 for $4.50. I bought the last four and froze them when I got home. They were delicious.

The produce was not only super fresh but also packaged, so it hadn't been handled. The asparagus and broccoli were very pristine.

The store itself was easy to navigate, with all aisles clearly labeled and an intuitive layout. Most of the people in the store were employees pushing carts to fill online orders when I was there early on a Sunday.

Another good feature is that Amazon Fresh has a sort of Sephora-style collection of makeup, shampoo, and other toiletries, not just the budget options. So if you like that, you might be happy.

When I was all done shopping, I crossed the “Dash Cart Line” and bingo. The sale was made. There was no waiting in line. No unloading the groceries onto a conveyor. No dreaded self-checkout.

The Amazon Fresh cart scans, weighs, and totals items while you shop.

Here is the list of pros and cons from my point of view:

Pros:

• It feels efficient to shop because only the most popular items are there.

• The produce is fresh and mostly packaged, so it is not handled.

• Some items are discounted because they are past their best-before date. I got a few excellent deals and also felt the assurance that everything is tracked and fresh.

• They had a good selection of meat, poultry, seafood, dairy products, cheese, and prepared foods as well as the expected items in the aisles.

• It was so easy to stay on budget since I knew my total the whole time I was shopping.

• Checking out was such a breeze. There was no waiting in lines, no need to put the food on a belt for the cashier, and no need for me to check it out. I walked across the finish line and was sent an email with a receipt.

• If you shop here in person, you skip the delivery fee you would pay by shopping at Amazon Fresh online. In comparison, Amazon Fresh delivery is cheaper than Instacart because the total delivery fee is only $9.95 (or $0 if you are willing to subscribe for $99 per year) instead of the $10 fee and the tip charge by Instacart, which can tack $30 onto a $150 grocery receipt.

• The prices were pretty good. I paid $3 for 16 ounces of unsalted butter, which is $4.50 at most grocery stores. A seedless watermelon was only $2.89, compared to $9 in my local store. I didn't do an exhaustive comparison, but that's easy for anyone to do online, so they can see how they would fare with their own shopping choices. My overall bill was around $100 and I did a quick scan of a local store and the same items would be $140.

Cons:

• Accessibility. I wonder if older people might feel a little lost since they aren't as digitally savvy when it comes to using apps and scanning QR codes. Amazon Fresh accepts cash and has regular checkout lines, so that might help.

• The carts are heavier than the carts in other stores here.

• They do not have EVERYTHING. There is no seafood counter, but they did have a decent choice of very fresh fish. I think you could get most items on a standard list, but not as many gourmet or specialty items in a chain store. I found everything but Valencia rice.

• Limited number of locations. There are only 63 Amazon Fresh stores at this moment. A recent news article announced plans to expand to 1000 cities.

All in all, I would shop there again. I am probably lucky to have one close to me. FMI - see their page.