Place the order the day before online and pick up the groceries at the GO station the following day

News 100 yellowBy Staff

February 27th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

When MetroLinx announced that internet access would be available throughout their network the Gazette didn’t see that as a big deal. They were just catching up to what many other transportation operations were doing.

We didn’t expect the other shoe to fall so quickly.

Loblaws, part of the George Weston operation, battling a price fixing matter, announced today that with internet access available to the tens of thousands of GO train commuters they would soon be able to use their cell phones to log into the Loblaws app and place food orders that they will be able to pick up at the GO station when they get off the train

Busy consumers will soon have one more way to avoid going to the grocery store as Canadian retailers ramp up their e-commerce offerings in an apparent effort to beat tech titan Amazon, which recently entered the country’s grocery market.

A Loblaws store is seen in Montreal on March 9, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz ORG XMIT: CPT603

Loblaws and Fortinos locations will be the pick up point for GO train commuters who decide to use the new service,

Loblaw Companies Ltd. announced Monday it will launch a new service in the spring that allows commuters to order groceries online and pick them up at one of five Go Transit stations in the Greater Toronto Area the next day. None of the Burlington GO stations are part of the pilot operation.

Jeremy Pee, the company’s senior vice-president of e-commerce said “This is a logical extension of our increasingly popular e-commerce services, and the growing customer appeal for ordering groceries online and picking them up when it’s most convenient.”

The company partnered with Metrolinx, an Ontario government agency that co-ordinates and integrates transportation modes in the GTA and Hamilton area.

BronteGOStation

Somewhere in this GO station people will be able to pick up groceries they ordered on line. Lot of logistics to get worked out – will people be able to drive their car right up to the pick up point?

The partnership will initially start with stations in Bronte, Oakville, Rouge Hill, Whitby and Clarkson, with plans to expand to additional sites in the region.

Groceries will come from nearby Fortinos or Loblaws stores, and will be waiting in a special delivery truck, in lockers or in an enclosed kiosk.

The service is an extension of the company’s click-and-collect offering as it allows customers who travel on Go Transit a pick-up option that doesn’t require them to adjust their daily commute,

Loblaw launched click-and-collect in 2014 and now offers the online order, in-store pick up service at 300 of its stores. The company is rolling out that service at a rapid clip, with about one new store offering click-and-collect every day.

Amazing what competition will do. Why Burlington isn’t included in the first phase of the new service wasn’t explained. Apparently we are not as demographically svelte as Oakville. That hurts!

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