Picture this: instead of venturing out of your house to a crowded grocery store (which likely includes a long line), the store comes directly to you. The future of grocery shopping is launching very soon, and it will certainly be a unique new experience for Torontonians to test out.
GroceryNeighbour is known as North America's first "grocery store on wheels," and it will be travelling across our city to bring the grocery shopping experience right outside of people's homes. This mobile grocery store combines the best of fresh, local and organic products, housing them in a large truck heading to different neighbourhoods to provide a safe, convenient and hassle-free experience.
One of the main goals of GroceryNeighbour is to reduce food waste, which has become an issue across North America over the past several years. Rather than bringing the entire and often overwhelming selection of a traditional grocery store, the trucks will be packed with only "essential" grocery items to choose from. Of course, this is subjective, but a mobile grocery store that offers plenty of fresh food options and eliminates the noise of unnecessary packaged goods (that are often filled with unnecessary ingredients) is undoubtedly a positive thing. Not only will this reduce plastic packaging, but the hope is that it will also prevent folks from impulse purchasing lots of non-essential items. We are all familiar with the experience of going to the grocery store with a list of 5 items and leaving with an entire cart of fun and tempting foods that caught your eye in the process. Fewer options with GroceryNeighbour will mean a reduction in consumer spending, waste and decision fatigue.
GroceryNeighbour is also hoping to solve the pains of grocery delivery, which has become extremely popular over the past year but comes with its own set of frustrations. Ordering groceries from the comfort of your home is an excellent idea in theory, but some consumers find that it doesn't always pan out the way they want. Issues still arise when people receive incorrect or damaged items, bad-quality produce or deal with extra-long wait times for their delivery (during the peak of lockdowns in 2020, these services would sometimes take several days). By bringing the grocery store directly to people's homes, GroceryNeighbour hopes to provide both choice and convenience, giving consumers the freedom and flexibility to actually shop for themselves without having to go more than a few steps from home.
In terms of the shopping process, GroceryNeighbour will have an app where users may scan the products they'd like to purchase and then checkout whenever they're ready. They promise to deliver a decent selection of goods including local, organic produce, high-quality meats and fresh bakery items for affordable prices, which will hopefully make grocery shopping more accessible (in several ways) for more people.
You can head to their website and vote to get a mobile store in your area before they officially launch. Until then, keep your eye out on their Instagram page for updates on when and where you'll be able to find one of these innovative grocery stores soon!
