If you shop at the Fry’s Marketplace on Ray Road in Tempe, you may have noticed that six parking spots on the west side of the lot near one of the store’s entrances are now marked off for something called “Click List.”
The parking spaces, designated with fresh white paint and a large sign, are part of the grocery chain’s expansion into the online shopping trend.
Jo Ellen Lynn, director of public relations for Fry’s Food stores in Arizona, said the grocery chain will have 21 stores in Arizona with the Click List service available by this week, with a total of 30 stores by the end of the month.
“It’s a service our customers want and it’s convenient. We’ve always prided ourselves on having the products and freshness and now we’ve got this customer service as well,” Lynn said.
Customers go to FrysFood.com/clicklist and log into or create their digital account. The items you’ve recently purchased will be pictured at the top of the page—unless, of course, you’re one of those people flying outside cyberspace who doesn’t have a Fry’s VIP card and always pay with cash. In that case, you probably wouldn’t consider the online grocery shopping service.
You’ll also see as you begin your shopping list that images of sale items with their original and discount prices. In my case, Diet Dr Pepper showed up as $4.99 for a 12 pack, but there’s a line running through the price. This week, you can get it for $4.
Fry’s Click List has 40,000 items available for ordering, including fresh meat and produce. Once you create your shopping list, you schedule a pick-up date and time and pay for the order with a credit or debit card. Same-day service is available.
Once you drive up to the store, you pull into one of the Click List parking slots and press the call button. A Fry’s employee comes out and loads the groceries into the vehicle for you.
“It’s a lot of parents with little kids,” Lynn said, but Arizona’s boiling-hot summer temperatures are a big motivator too. “When it’s hot, even I love it. It’s just so convenient.”
That’s because when she buys Popsicles and ice cream for her grandkids the frozen treats don’t melt of the stick when they’re loaded into a hot car, she said.
Shoppers also find that they aren’t tempted into impulse buying. With time to sit and think about their list and add to it when they remember items, they don’t go shopping for milk and come home…without milk (be honest: how many times have you done that?)
Fry’s charges $4.95 for the service but the fee is waived for the first three orders. Each store participating in Click List has added about a dozen employees to do the shopping and carry out groceries. But how do you know you’re not getting apples with spots on them?
Employees undergo special training and “they are taught to pick as they pick for their own families,” Lynn said. “You can even put notes like I like my bananas a little green. If you like steaks but you like them cut thinner or thicker, you can indicate that and they’ll have them cut for you.”
Wrangler News interviewed several shoppers at Fry’s Marketplace before the online service shopping began but none indicated they would use Click List. One woman, thoughtfully reconsidered her reply: “Maybe if I wasn’t feeling well I would use it. I can see how a disabled person might use the service too.”
Lynn, however, says Fry’s new service is already well-received at the stores where it’s operational. “It’s just so convenient. My friend does the order and her husband picks up on his way home from work.”
This article is partially true. You do get Sale items at their discount, EXCEPT for Alcohol. Example: Bailey’s 750ml sale price is $16.99 (down from fake list price of $26.99) However, Weekly Flyer has a 25% discount when you buy 6 bottles or more. I tried to do this, and the discount was not applied…. I try to stock up when they have Pumpkin spice because they only have it in the winter.