Comparing Peapod Grocery Delivery vs. Amazon Fresh
It was a pretty major adjustment to pack up our entire lives, sell our car and move to Boston. I used to take grocery shopping for granted; I’d just hop in the car and go. Now, grocery shopping is a necessary household duty that must be thoroughly planned in advance. I started to explore the various online grocery delivery alternatives because there isn’t a grocery store within easy walking distance.
I decided to compare Jet.com, Peapod and Amazon Fresh with the overall assumption that I would buy groceries once per week.
Jet.com
To date, I still haven’t placed an order with Jet.com. I have been able to get all of the household supplies I need through Amazon Fresh and Peapod. Jet.com offers a decent introductory savings – 15% off your first 3 orders and there are also many other discount opportunities as well. For example, paying by debit is cheaper than paying by credit card. Buying larger quantities also offers Jet.com price advantages too.
Jet offers a great selection of household products, non-perishables and packaged foods. However, since Rob and I consume primarily fresh vegetables and choice meats, there really isn’t a large culinary selection for us.
Introductory Offer
Peapod was the very first grocery delivery service I tried after moving to Boston. I remember sitting at our hotel, the moving truck still full, looking forward to a sweaty morning and wondering how I would find essential food items. Peapods free 90-Day Grocery Delivery service for new members was attractive and the prices were pretty decent.
Amazon Fresh is a new Amazon service for Prime members* with a one month free trial and no obligation to continue the service. As soon as Peapod’s initial introductory offer ceased, I signed up for a 1-month free trial with Amazon Fresh.
*An Amazon Prime membership has an annual fee. I’m currently paying $99/year.
THUMBS UP: Peapod (90 Days of free delivery rocks!)
Ordering Process
I appreciate how visual the Peapod ordering process is. It is easy for me to compare prices of items by unit to ensure I get the best value for my dollar. Yes, in the end, a lot of my decisions are based on cost. Quality matters but sadly, cost supersedes all at this point in my life.
The Amazon Fresh grocery ordering process is very comparable to Peapod’s except for (a) It’s more difficult to directly compare cost per unit using Amazon Fresh and (b) there are several steps to the order confirmation process. The first time I placed an order using Amazon Prime, I didn’t click the final confirmation and actually never ended up placing the order.
Both Amazon and Peapod offer a shopping history feature so that it’s easy to see what I have recently ordered, and then re-order as needed. The Peapod interface also offers a shopping genius to help me craft my grocery list based on my frequent grocery delivery purchases. It makes great suggestions too!
THUMBS UP: Peapod (I’m a visual girl, I like the slick and simple interface that keeps product comparisons simple)
Scheduling
Both services offer flexibility with delivery date and time selection. With Peadpod, I can save an extra $1-2 from my order when I select certain delivery times.
Amazon’s delivery availability is much better than Peapods’ at the current time. I can actually have my groceries delivered the very same day depending on what I am ordering. I’m sure Peapod allows this too, but haven’t been lucky this way. Usually, I can get my groceries the next day with Peapod, but on one occasion I had to wait 2 days.
With Amazon Fresh, I have the option of selecting my delivery to ensure ALL items are delivered (or sooner with the disclaimer that “x” item wont’ be available). If I REALLY need my groceries by a certain time but “x” isn’t available, I am able to decide how badly I need “x.”
After placing the orders, both services offer the option of updating the order until the cut-off time. Peapod’s communication is superior here. I receive a text notice and email to warn me that if I want to make any changes, I need to do so before the cut-off.
THUMBS UP: Amazon Fresh
Delivery
After receiving a text to let me know my delivery is next, Peapod drivers bring my groceries directly to my condo. The groceries are in plastic bags, within totes (cold and frozen items are insulated). The plastic bags can be returned with my next Peapod order so I never have to worry how to use the extra plastic bags – I just return them.
When Amazon Fresh deliveries arrive, the drivers bring them in big green insulated and collapsable totes that you keep until your next order arrives. I’m notified that my order is out for delivery will arrive soon… but the actual delivery time falls within a 2 hour range.
With Amazon, there are no plastic bags. The cold and frozen items are kept extremely well chilled. Amazon uses totes that are large but collapsable and all of their insulating materials are able to be returned. However, when you live in small condo, it’s nice to not Amazon totes taking up valuable space. If you are an Amazon Fresh subscriber, just get the delivery driver to wait a couple minutes so that you can unpack and return the totes to him right away. They are usually pretty good about this.
THUMBS UP: Peapod (I’m not a fan of having to ask the Amazon delivery driver to wait while I unpack my groceries so I can send the totes back – awkward).
Tipping
There are no tips with Amazon Fresh (that I’ve noticed anyway). The delivery drives comes and goes… just as s/he would when delivering regular Amazon parcels. There are no papers to sign and no awkward spaces for tipping, unlike Peapod.
Tips are completely optional with Peapod, however appreciated. Every single delivery driver has been polite, prompt and courteous. They work hard and deserve every penny they get for their service so I do provide a tip for my Peapod drivers.
THUMBS UP: Amazon (every dollar counts)
Product Availability
With Peapod, if an item is not available, it may be substituted with an item of equal or greater value, if this option is specified in my settings. However, when this happens, I’m only charged the price I originally agreed to pay. Yes, I’ve received items of greater value! If something totally isn’t available, the website indicates “out-of-stock” or, I’m not charged if it’s not available at the time of packing. I also love how Peapod honors my manufacturers coupons and will actually double their value up to $0.99. There are also hundreds of weekly specials online. Saving money helps.
Amazon offers some products from local businesses. This is very cool – I appreciate supporting local businesses.
Amazon offers a great selection and so does Peapod, however, as you’ll see from this week’s grocery list and price comparison below, neither service had absolutely everything I needed.
Overall, Peapod currently offers better overall selection but knowing Amazon, this will be short-lived. Amazon grows every day. If you’re in business, Amazon is your enemy unless of course you decide to put your products on Amazon. Amazon lets you know on the day of delivery, before the order is received by email if there are any items unavailable at the time of packing – it’s nice to get this heads up. Peapod let’s you know at the time of delivery when the driver presents the invoice. You can clearly see if something wasn’t included in your order.
THUMBS UP: Peapod
Product Information
Both Amazon Fresh and Peapod list nutritional information for the majority of their products.
THUMBS UP: Both Amazon Fresh and Peapod
The Price War
Yes, so cost. This is the bottom line with most people like me who have to live on a very strict budget. Quality is important to me but I have to be mindful of our household budget.
Membership/Subscription Fees
Amazon Fresh is an upgrade for Amazon Prime members. Amazon Fresh members get the benefits of Prime and Fresh services for an annual membership fee of $299. Since my Prime membership is currently $99 per year, the extra annual cost for the Fresh service would be about $200. This cost waives the delivery fee for orders totaling $40 or more. When considering this option, I reminded myself that there would be no tipping with Amazon Fresh and there are no limits on the number of deliveries throughout the year.
Peapod’s delivery is $9.95 for orders totaling $60-100. It costs $6.95 for orders greater than $100. There is also a possible fuel surcharge (depending on location). To date, I haven’t had to pay a fuel surcharge! Alternatively, I could chose to pick up my groceries for $2.95 at my local Stop and Shop grocery store. Regardless, I must meet a minimum of $60 to use the service.
At times, Peapod also offers a delivery subscriptions called the “PodPass” boasting unlimited orders for one low price, similar to the Amazon Fresh program. I was excited when Peapod sent a PodPass promotional email that allowed me to receive 3 months free when an annual plan was purchased. Therefore, an annual subscription would cost me $89 compared with the regular annual Podpass fee of $119.
At delivery, tips are completely optional with Peapod but since I feel I should tip these drivers, I factored in approximately $3/delivery when comparing the PodPass vs. Amazon Fresh option.
THUMBS UP: Peapod (even though I chose to tip my grocery delivery drivers, the savings is slightly greater with Peapod if I order groceries 1x/week using the promotional Podpass)
Food Costs & Availability
I compared the cost of each item on my grocery list for the week of August 21, 2016. You’ll note, Peapod had slightly better pricing than Amazon Fresh. This surprised me. The pdf below summarizes my calculation. Peapod’s food items amounted to a cost of $100.81 compared with a cost of $112.87 for Amazon Fresh.
Amazon Fresh did not have the following items available online: baby portobello mushrooms, individual plums, hoagie rolls, and green tomatoes. Peapod did not have poblano peppers or green tomatoes. Therefore, all of these items were excluded from the cost comparison but it’s important to note that Peapod had slightly better overall availability of products for grocery delivery when compared with Amazon Fresh.
THUMBS UP: Peapod (I like saving money)
CONCLUSION:
My overall experience with both the Peapod and Amazon Fresh grocery delivery services have been superb. The ordering processes are easy and convenient… I don’t have to leave my house and spend hours out shopping or fall victim to add-on purchases (like gum and candy bars) in the check-out line.
I made the decision to opt for the Peapod PodPass. Peapod came out slightly ahead of Amazon Fresh in various categories. For the next year, I won’t pay the delivery fee for my Peapod grocery delivery. I simply paid a one-time $89. I’m sure, Amazon Fresh will be working hard to grow their selection and compare their pricing strategies. Next summer, I’ll have to sit down and re-do this comparison; things change all the time!
Quality matters. $avings help. Peapod’s grocery delivery service rocks!
Do you use a grocery delivery service? Comment with your experiences below – I’m always excited to hear about available options, experiences and feedback.
