My Clicklist Experience

My Kroger affiliate, Smith's Food King, has introduced the order-online-and-pick-it-up-at-the-store service called ClickList. Because they emailed me a bunch of digital coupons, including $10 off $50, service fee waived, 5 different freebies (General Mills cereal, Nature Valley Granola Bars, Hungry Jack Pancake Mix, Martha White Muffin Mix, Muscle Monster Drink) and a bunch of B1G1F's, I decided to try it. It's hard for me to get to $50 but I figured with the value of the freebie coupons, plus the groceries I needed anyway, I could do it. So.... I logged on, clicked through some links and got to the form where I filled my online cart. It was user-friendly. I typed in the product and the choices came up in a drop down menu. It was a little awkward looking up the exact freebies and finding the right ones, but after about 15 minutes, I had my cart filled with just over $50 worth of stuff. No payment was required then. I had to choose a pick-up time, and was offered one about 4 hours away, which wasn't a problem, but might have been if I needed the stuff sooner.

At the appointed time, I headed to the store. I was nervous, anticipating problems with the freebies not being deducted, the $10 off $50 not coming off, wrong products, you name it. I stewed about it as I drove, deciding how I would handle mixups. I pulled up to the special parking section clearly marked for ClickList customers. The parking slots are numbered, and there are signs everywhere with a phone number to call to tell them "you've arrived". (Good thing I brought my phone; I don't always do that). A young man answered immediately, took my name and slot number, asked if I had paper coupons, and said he'd be right out with my groceries. He was there in about 3 minutes. He had a clipboard and a detailed receipt showing every item purchased with the deductions, and BIG RELIEF, it was all correct. All the freebies were deducted, all the other digital coupons clearly listed. Okay, then I started to relax and enjoy the service. He loaded the groceries in my car, scanned my credit card, and off I went with $56 worth of groceries for $28.

He told me a couple things: Soon you'll be able to pay online when you order. He said if there's something you want, and it doesn't come up when you type in the name, fill it in on the comments section and they'll try to get it. For example, I ordered one turnip and I also need a parsnip for a soup recipe. When I typed in parsnip, it came up unavailable. He said I could have ordered 2 turnips, and then in the comments section I could write: "I really want one turnip and one parsnip" and they would do that. Watch for freebies around holidays, i.e., there were free hotdogs and buns during the 4th of July, available only for ClickList customers. Also, you have the option to mark each item whether you'll accept a substitute or not. A real person is involved in your order, pulling your groceries, and he/she does want to make you happy.

Would I use it again? Yes, IF (big IF) I don't have to pay a $4.95 service fee. Hopefully there will be future offers to waive the service fee, especially while they are building up the "ClickList" customer base. While I was there, two other cars pulled up, so it is catching on. Freebies and no service fee are the keys for me. Otherwise it's just as easy to go into the store myself.

If you are a Kroger shopper, check your online account for digital coupons for all of the above freebies and the $10 off $50 bonus. Then try ClickList yourself and let everyone know how it went on Chat.