A Kroger employee at the North Peoria Kroger store picks out items from the meat case for a ClickList customer in September shortly after the company rolled out its online shopping service at the store. Kroger is one of several grocery stores in the Peoria area that has begun offering online shopping with pickup at the store. (Photo courtesy o

Given the choice of trying to corral her three young daughters at a grocery store for the family’s weekly shopping trip or ordering groceries on the computer at home while the kids are sleeping, Amy Mefford of Pekin chooses the latter.

Mefford, a full-time teacher and mother of an 8-year-old and 4-year-old twins, is among a growing number of shoppers taking advantage of opportunities to do online grocery shopping in the Peoria area.

The Kroger store on Lindbergh Drive in North Peoria rolled out the service with curbside pickup this fall. The service is also now available at the Kroger store in Morton. Both Hy-Vee stores in Sheridan Village and near the Shoppes at Grand Prairie have been offering online shopping with delivery and pickup options for at least a year, and Haddad’s West Peoria Market has been offering call-in ordering and home delivery for about 16 years.

“I like it because I can shop in the comfort of my home while my kids are sleeping at night, and I can schedule it for later the next day or a couple days later to pick it up,” said Mefford, who first shopped online last summer at Hy-Vee. “It’s also easier for me to look at the coupons online rather than have to cut them out.”

Alissa Williams, director of the Morton Public Library and a mom of two young girls, said she likes the service because it saves her time.

“It appeals to me because I don’t like shopping, and this seemed so much easier,” said Williams, who tried the service for the first time recently at the Morton Kroger store. “I find it very convenient, and I like not having to take my children into the store. Plus, there’s a window where you can add to your order, so if I forget something there’s a safety net.”

Kroger first tested online ordering in Cincinnati in 2014 and 2015, according to Eric Halvorson, public affairs manager and media spokesman for the company’s Central Division.

Kroger employees load groceries into a customer’s car as part of its new ClickList online shopping service. Customers arriving for a scheduled pickup, use designated parking spaces and pay when they pick up their groceries. (Photo courtesy of Kroger)

Customer response was so positive that Kroger expanded the service, dubbing it ClickList.

“It is especially appreciated by busy moms and dads, people whose schedules don’t allow for traditional shopping,” Halvorson said. “People with mobility issues also appreciate ClickList.”

The service is currently offered in about 300 of the more than 2,700 Kroger stores nationwide.

“We expect to offer ClickList in other stores around the (Peoria) area, but the plans for 2017 have not been finalized,” Halvorson said.

Citing research that shows 38 percent of shoppers use their computers and other devices before shopping, Halvorson said the service is especially popular with people connected to social media and digital devices.

“That means Gen Xers and millennials are regular users of ClickList,” he said. “Connected (baby) boomers also appreciate the service.”

Conversely, the delivery service at Haddad’s West Peoria Market at 2407 W. Rohmann is geared for seniors who generally aren’t connected to the internet, according to owner Mark Wrhel, who started the service in 2000 when his own parents were facing health issues that made shopping at a store difficult.

“We have a service that’s for seniors and is run by seniors. An older person is going to be more apt to feel comfortable letting another older person in their home. We’re geared for the baby boomers that never got into the internet age,” Wrhel said.

“We’ve had people asking if we’re going to update online, but we’re a small business so we can’t afford to build a website that robust like the big box stores have,” he added. “But our service is much more personalized versus the others.”

At Haddad’s customers call in their orders. The fee is $9 for deliveries in West Peoria, $12 for deliveries in Peoria and $16 for deliveries outside Peoria.

At Hy-Vee, delivery or store pickup are free if the customer spends more than $100. Otherwise, delivery is $4.95 and store pickup is $2.95.

At the North Peoria and Morton Kroger stores, the first three orders are free. After that, a $4.95 fee is charged for each order.

Alissa Williams said she doesn’t mind paying the fee because she thinks it will save her money in the long run on impulse buys.

“My plan is to do it regularly, probably three times a month with one time a month to go to Walmart and get the few things I can’t get at Kroger,” Williams said.

Walmart currently offers online grocery shopping with curbside pickup at about 600 locations in the United States and could possibly offer it here in the future. Currently in Illinois, Walmart only offers the free service in Belleville and Collinsville.

“However, we’re expanding pretty quickly. At the start of fall last year, we were in five markets; we’ll end this month with the service in 100 markets,” said Walmart senior public relations director Ravi Jariwala. “We are planning more expansion into the next year as well, so stay tuned.”

Sam’s Club also offers free online ordering with in-store pickup for club members.

Amy Mefford said she plans to keep using the service, especially for those times when she’d have to shop with her children.

“Once you get everything set up, it’s a real smooth, quick process,” she said. “It’s so much better than dragging three little kids to the grocery store with you. The pickup process is very easy, too. They load everything up for you so you don’t even have to get out of your car.”

The only downside to online grocery shopping is sometimes receiving produce riper than she’d like or occasionally receiving substitutions she didn’t care for, though the store has been quick to try to remedy the problem, Mefford said.

“I think I’ll keep doing it,” she added. “It makes sense for me being able to do it whenever you have the free time and from the comfort of your own home.”

— Online grocery shopping gaining popularity in Peoria area —