I’ve just been going to the grocery store as usual and it works great. You show up in the morning and there’s no line yet and shelfs are full. Later in the day they meter entry so you can keep distance inside.
Don’t be that ass who makes others do your shopping just coz you’re too afraid to.
In store: you need to have someone stock the shelves, someone walk through the store and pick groceries, and someone handle the payment in person. Chance of infection: depends how long since someone coughed in the store.
Online: you need someone to stock the orders and wait for people to drive up for curbside pickup. Chance of infection: low.
Surely the second option is both safer and more efficient?
Probably different regions but none of my grocery stores do online like that. They have someone walk the aisles and shop like a regular shopper, and check-out at the cash register like a regular shopper. They will even give you their receipt to verify the order. You're just offloading the risk of infection to someone being paid to grab groceries.
Think of the systemic effects. If everyone ordered online, fewer shoppers would go to the stores, changing the topology of infection from a mesh to a star. Spokes would likely develop immunity, and would be less surface area to test, if we had any tests /s
Partially I'm guessing this is an artifact of just-in-time delivery - almost no storage outside of shelves (there's no central storage location that could fulfill orders).
Still, if the stores handle this themselves - it's much more feasible to take extra precautions - from using a locker room to change into a uniform (not bringing outdoor/home clothes into the store) - to using disposable gloves etc.
Ideally, stores would offer only pickup and delivery - and not allow in-store shopping at all.
Would probably make sense to increase staff as needed, as any additional staff needs would scale with increase in revenue.
Ah, that's quite inefficient (and probably costly) because it's a third party without integration in the logistics chain.
I've tried food deliveries provided by two local major grocery chains. As far as I understand, one of them has the stock-shelving people pack the deliveries (so, before hitting the shelf), and the other seems to pack pack the direct deliveries in the same logistics centres from which they supply their smaller shops, so that stuff never even gets delivered to a store; and the limited overhead means that they offer free delivery for non-small purchases.
You are absolutely correct. There are not enough delivery capability for those who really need it. If you are young and healthy you should be ashamed to be getting your food delivered. It is cowardly.
My esteem goes to those working in the stores, at the tills etc.
Don’t be that ass who makes others do your shopping just coz you’re too afraid to.