Amazon Fresh 120 Day Review
I'm sitting here, as we head into the fifth month of quarantines and stay-at-home orders from COVID-19, awaiting my 20th Amazon Fresh order this year. Yes, in the past 5 months I have placed 20 Amazon Fresh orders for groceries. While a lot of states have been opening up and loosening up their restrictions, I am in no rush to go outside, so after having used it for most of the year, I am pretty confident in whatever comes next because at least I know we'll be fed.
So what has it been like doing my grocery shopping almost* exclusively on Amazon Fresh for the past 4 months?
What is Amazon Fresh?
Amazon Fresh is a grocery delivery and pickup service in select cities. Prime members in select cities can shop for groceries, everyday essentials, and more with Amazon Fresh. Amazon Fresh offers Attended Delivery and Unattended Delivery, with Pickup options in select cities. source
It's no secret that I am a huge fan of using Amazon in both my personal and professional life for buying and sharing all the things, but until recently, Amazon Fresh was one of the few features I'd never explored, mainly because I didn't need to. We had a grocery routine that worked for us, so getting groceries delivered never crossed my mind — not since living in NYC, at least, when I used Fresh Direct during a back injury and also after having my daughter — however, out of pure curiosity, I'd decided to give it a try back in March. What I didn't know, at the time, it was going to be the first of many Amazon Fresh orders.
Before I get into my review, I want to preface it with some quick facts about my family and our shopping habits...
We are a small family of three — my husband, my daughter, and I — and my husband is the family cook. He love's experimenting with new concoctions, while I am more of a cook to survive type of gal... baking is really more my speed. With my husband away, he hasn't experienced the stay-at-home order with us, so all of the grocery shopping has been for my daughter & I -- this really simplifies my grocery shopping. I've been telecommuting, and she's been in childcare, so the only meals we've really been eating at home together are on the weekends, and on the weekdays, it's been mostly dinner & the occasional breakfast... and lots and lots of snacking.
I say all of this to say, my grocery shopping is pretty "easy" — as grocery shopping goes — with me mostly shopping for staple items and essentials, and occasionally deviating to try something new.
Our shopping habits made using Amazon Fresh an easy choice, since I didn't need all the bells & whistles of a brick & mortar supermarket. Nearly all of my grocery needs were met through Amazon Fresh's assortment...and I say nearly because I made the choice to not get as much produce in the beginning because I wasn't prepared to have someone else picking out my fruits & veggies. I stuck to frozen and/or packages items just to be safe; but was able to order everything from cereal to wine, shrimp to bread, in addition to a few household items like toilet paper & laundry disinfectant.
The packages, originally, would arrive in paper bags during the time slot. They later switched to sealed plastic bags — maybe because of COVID? Having always chosen contactless deliveries, someone would simply knock on my door once the delivery's complete and I'd find the bags at my doorstep, like I would any delivery. The only time I'd have to do an "attended" delivery is when I'd order wine, to show my ID from a distance. Easy peasy.
In a pre-COVID era, I would simply make my shopping list and when ready, place my order. I start with the brands of items I'm already familiar with buying, as I would in a brick & mortar market, just so the search isn't overwhelming. I don't just browse the digital aisles for the same reason I don't roam the market aisles — I don't have the time or patience.
Placing my order also included choosing my delivery date & time, often being able to get my items only a few hours later, even though slots would be shown as far out as a week. During the height of the stay-at-home orders, however, getting a delivery slot became more difficult — drivers/slots were scaled back as a safety precaution and, of course, more people were placing orders for delivery. I had to get a bit more strategic, placing my orders extremely late at night or extremely early in the morning, to catch the newest slot, typically 1-2 days out. For the bulk of my deliveries, it became a bit of a game trying to snag one. As of a few weeks ago -- so mid June -- deliveries have gone back to their usual availability, which is both a relief and concerning.
Because of the general ease of the service, and its availability in different cities, I have even been able to place orders for friends & family in NYC, since their supermarkets were a lot skimpier for a lot longer than here in Washington.
Have there ever been any problems?
Nothing is perfect, so yes, but also nothing Earth shattering. On two separate occasions, items that weren't available were replaced with alternatives. While they weren't the items I would've chosen, they were suitable replacements. If items become unavailable before my delivery, I get a notification beforehand so I know not to expect it, and only twice have I had to request of refund for damaged and/or missing items. While never ideal, it was a pretty quick & painless process, and again... nothing Earth shattering.
Are there things I miss about traditional grocery?
Can't say that there are. Granted, I did a fair bit of grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Target, and there are many items that I purchased that were exclusive to each retailer; but, as with everything else since COVID came to town, I've adapted. Will we continue to shop exclusively through Amazon Fresh when my husband returns? I can't answer that just yet, but I don't see why not? As the home chef, however, he's more than welcome to brave the supermarket aisles...within reason of course.
Interested in using Amazon Fresh for yourself?
manage your expectations, especially as it relates to any special dietary needs or restrictions you may have, because the availability of products will vary by location
plan ahead so you're not haphazardly scrolling the digital aisles, because this is still Amazon after all
with so many people newly on some type of government assistance (i.e. EBT, Medicaid, etc), look to see if you qualify for the discounted option for qualifying customers in select U.S. cities.
Now there's a lot more that I could share with you when it comes to Amazon Fresh but being that this is a "review", what it comes down to is this — I haven't had to worry about food or had anxiety around going grocery shopping for the better part of 5 months thanks to Amazon Fresh. My groceries have arrived on time and safely packaged each time, and while there are other grocery delivery services out there, I don't know that I would have had the same service and/or peace of mind.