HOUSTON – Picking up your groceries without ever going into the store is a trend gaining traction here in Houston. Walmart, Kroger and HEB all offer the curbside service. We showed you how they work last year, but with the fast expansion of the service comes changes.
Consumer expert Amy Davis is updating her consumer comparison to let us know which service will save you the most money.
When we compared delivery services last August, only one HEB in Houston offered curbside pick-up. and 14 Kroger stores. HEB's service is now at 11 stores, and Kroger has ClickList at more than 30 locations. We all know we will pay more for convenience, but we wanted to know where we pay more. We chose 14 items at HEB and Kroger, in stores and then in our virtual carts online. Both grocery chains let you choose your groceries on their websites and then schedule your easy pick-up the same day or up to 7 days in advance for a $4.95 cent fee.
At HEB our total price for the 14 items loaded into my car while I waited was $53.41. Kroger's ClickList was $51.90. If we had shopped in store at Kroger and HEB, we would have paid $46.95, the exact same amount, to the penny, for the same groceries.
The difference in the curbside service is that HEB upcharges just a few cents on every item when you buy it online. The Laughing Cow Babybel cheese is $5.68 in the store. Online, you'll pay $5.85.
When we added up all that extra change, Davis paid $1.51 more for the same food using the HEB curbside service (not counting the 4.95 fee) than had she just walked into the store and shopped herself.
A couple of other points about each service: HEB gives you a free cookie on each curbside visit; but they don't accept coupons. Kroger lets you use digital coupons linked to your Kroger card and any paper coupons you've clipped.