There are a few, Save on Foods in BC does it much like Tesco. Lots of independents around. I shop a lot online, although with the CAD, staying closer to home for now. Some things are not available locally so rely on online from specialty vendors.

Grocery shopping, we pick our own, would not want someone else doing it for me. A lot of folks are now growing their own produce, we're putting down a bigger patch this year and have cold storage to keep it through the winter.

Yeah Save on Foods are the only big on that does it (I think?). Real Canadian just started doing click and collect in 9 stores as a trial.

It's not province wide with Save On though, just select markets.


I wish we could grow food, would help immensely but little community plots or a pot or 2 on a patio doesn't do much to reduce costs, may even cost more considering how little our plants produced last year.

Online shopping in Canada is horrible, shipping high, slow, and simply not worth it.

Now with the Canadian peso back, online buying is a thing of the past again...

CAD is certainly an issue. Unfortunately we have to buy a lot in USD so we're seeing costs increasing. Some items from the US seemed to be buffered for now, but for how long who knows.

You want lower prices (I know its stating the obvious)
but do you not understand the consequences of future grocery shopping?- its not just about the online portal- its not just about the convenience of to your door delivery- there are fundamental changes coming which make bricks and mortar very expensive to maintain, hence my bewilderment about the Instacart business model- bear in mind that the current offerings of online are backward and not paradigm shifting in terms of what lays in the future.- Consider some of the reasons bricks & mortar is more expensive:Higher retail $ per sqm to commercial warehouse spaceHigher space required for shoppers to browse (adds to problem above)Mobility of staff is far less efficient (trick with warehouse efficiency is the reduce movement of staff

Yes, totally understand your viewpoint - the issue is, that may work in somewhere like the UK but in a vast country like Canada it just isn't viable apart from in the cities and immediate surrounding areas.

Hi Siouxie, How about comparison to Australia with 4,000km distances?
I have taken away Rich's comments and seem to have a solution in my head that challenges the status quo and achieves the ability for rural customers to gain lower prices, no delivery charge, and get daily deliveries.
Hypothetical of course but it raises the question if its possible why are current providers not doing it?
I guess what I am trying to get across is the online is technology driven but its not about the web ordering portal, its what the back end technology today can achieve.

Perhaps current providers have realised or ascertained that it's not economically viable? Either that or, like many aspects of Canada, they just haven't got there yet.

As far as Australia and Canada as a comparison are concerned, it's like comparing kiwi's and polar bears. Australia isn't as big, and whilst it has areas that are remote they are not to the same degree as Canada; neither does it have the same weather, temperatures nor road conditions as Canada.

I'm not saying that your idea isn't a good one - I, for one, do miss online grocery shopping. However, perhaps spend some time here and get to know the place before you jump on everyone and dismiss their viewpoints? There have been some very valid and thoughtful responses given.

I thought this was quite interesting:
http://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!...gwMDAwMDA%29NQ

It's mainly about population density, without it the delivery volume per mile is simply insufficient to sustain the operation (no matter how efficient the back end IT). Apparently there are some established grocery delivery operations in Toronto and other major centres.

But that's what I am saying they are like comparing the model T Ford to the Aeron.
Density is an issue but that's why you us a different logistical solution for both. Its not as cost prohibitive as you would think. Provided you are not just rolling out a 1970's bricks and mortar. Or relying on a Insta cart model which leverages off bricks and mortar third parties.

Thanks understand

I would have thought delivery of non-perishable groceries would be technically viable, lots of other goods are supplied without seeing the vendor (for example, we buy clothes, shoes and consumer durables from online retailers. We arrange building supplies and organize contractors by text). Instead of us taking a truck to Costco for $500 worth of flats of things and the neighbours all doing the same, it would be cheaper for Costco to send a truck to our street and drop off a couple of grand's worth.

The snag to my mind, and the reason for not using Grocery Gateway, when living in Toronto, is that some things require selection and/or specialty stores. As long as we're going to the butcher and cheese shop we may as well pick up the rest of the groceries. There's also the concern that it's not really viable to return anything that's been delivered and doesn't suit; shipping things from rural Canada is just too expensive. If the retailer sends rotten potatoes and doesn't have a shop then the customers only recourse is not to order again. In the meantime there's no dinner.

The supermarkets in Canada charge different prices based on geographical demographic.

There is no financial incentive for them to have all their prices in one place as it would give too much transparency and power to the consumer. They'd also take a hit on revenues.

Like most things in Canada there is only really two or three suppliers and with the illegal collusion between them all we will undoubtably never see proper online grocery shopping.

They've had it in the UK for over ten years now- there is no reason we don't have it in Ontario (the Golden Horseshoe) other than it is not in their financial interests to hurt their own revenues and add more costs.

No competition equals no innovation. It's the same reason we all have cable boxes from 1982.

This rings true for my business - non-perishables are a no brainer to get delivered, but fresh produce is hit and miss. I reject items like strawberries, bananas and salad items too frequently to bother ordering them any more. Rejecting products is easy enough, but it takes a month for me to get refunded, which hurts cashflow.

It's more reliable to dive to Costco 80kms away than have things taken off the menu for 2-3 days until the next delivery.