Lettuce Carry is now delivering groceries in the Charlotte region at no extra charge with a minimum order of $25, offering an alternative for customers too harried to make it to the supermarket.
I first saw this on our news partner WCNC-TV, which had a story about Lettuce Carry on Friday. The service is privately owned and operates out of a warehouse in Pineville, delivering to most of the Charlotte region and parts of South Carolina.
Lettuce Carry stocks about 15,000 items, smaller than a traditional supermarket which might have 40,000 or so individual items. But that's still more than many smaller stores, such as Aldi or Trader Joe's, which carry around 10,000 or fewer.
The service offers next-day delivery for free on orders over $25, as well as weekly and monthly deliveries on minimum orders of $75. You save 3 percent and 5 percent off the total bill with those options. A same-day "expedited" order comes with a $10 delivery fee, but no minimum order size.
Online grocery shopping hasn't exactly caught fire so far with traditional retailers. Harris Teeter offers curbside pickup, where shoppers order online and show up at the store to pick up and pay for their completed order. Publix, which is opening in the fall near Charlotte, recently discontinued a similar program after it failed to attract enough customers.
Lettuce Carry seems to fit the same convenience niche that Swiss Farms, a new drive-thru grocer on Sardis Road, is aiming for. With traditional grocery shopping shifting to ever-bigger stores (Wal-Mart, Target, Harris Teeter's expanded stores), some consumers seem to be finding they don't have the time (or desire) to browse 20 aisles each time they need milk and eggs. Hence the rise in food sales at small-box retailers such as Family Dollar, drive-thru grocers selling just the basics, and grocers who will bring a limited selection of the essentials straight to your door.
According to WCNC, Lettuce Carry has about 50 customers so far. Have you tried it, or would you? Why or why not? I'm curious to hear what you think.