Status: Homebound for the sixth day, we’re in good shape with supplies.
Plans: Work around the house and distance ourselves from the crowds by STAYING HOME! We’ll probably go for a walk around the block later this morning.
Narrative: Up with the wife at 7AM so she can watch the “Today” show on NBC. Coffee was done when I opened the bedroom door.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/19/business/grocery-shopping-online-coronavirus/index.html
Coronavirus could be changing grocery shopping forever.
The outbreak of coronavirus is pushing Americans to buy their groceries online, a development that could have a lasting effect on the supermarket industry.
While shopping for books and electronics online and ordering dinner through delivery apps have become staples of American life, most customers still prefer to purchase their meat and vegetables at the store. Last year, just 4% of grocery sales in the United States came online, according to Nielsen.
However, with shoppers stuck in their homes in the wake of the virus, online grocery shopping is exploding. Downloads of Instacart, Walmart’s grocery app and Shipt increased 218%, 160%, and 124% respectively last Sunday compared with a year prior.
“We are seeing a larger percentage of customers over the age of 60 that are coming online,” said JJ Fleeman, chief e-commerce officer for Ahold Delhaize in the United States, which owns brands like Stop & Shop, Food Lion and the online delivery service Peapod. “We’re seeing a lot of new customers coming into the channel.”
A third of consumers said Sunday that they had purchased groceries for online pickup or delivery in the past seven days, according to a survey by analysts at Gordon Haskett Research Advisors. Around 41% said they were buying groceries online for the first time.
“Consumer behaviors always shift in times of disaster,” said Doug Baker, vice president of industry relations at FMI, a trade group for food retailers. “People are learning new skills and how to shop online as a result of what we’re experiencing today.”
Maria Alvarado in Phoenix usually shops in person for groceries at Walmart or Safeway, but she tried ordering online last week for the first time through Walmart’s in-store pickup option. She plans to keep using the service.
“Once things go back to normal, I will probably use online again,” she said. “It was really easy.”
Related video: Is it safe to go to the grocery store?Click to expand
Big grocers like Walmart, Albertsons, Stop & Shop, Meijer, Hy-Vee and others have been experimenting with new ways to fulfill online orders in recent years. They have increasingly looked to technology to reduce costs and keep aisles from jamming up with shoppers and workers picking customers’ orders.
Grocers have been building automated mini-warehouses inside their stores and opening up “dark stores” — locations that look like supermarkets but are closed to customers — to make deliveries and prepare pickup orders.
Yet the crush of demand in the wake of coronavirus has overwhelmed grocers’ delivery and pickup networks, causing long waits, cancellations and outages in some parts of the country.
“The surge in online grocery orders is causing operational difficulties,” said Bill Bishop, CEO of grocery consulting firm Brick Meets Click.
Grocers are scrambling to adjust and hiring workers to keep up.
Fleeman from Ahold Delhaize said the company was adding “web servers to help us process the increased demand” and offering more windows for customers to pickup their orders or get delivery.
This shift online during the crisis may reshape the supermarket industry by helping large grocers consolidate their grip, experts predict.
“We see this unfortunate period accelerating structural changes in consumer shopping,” possibly by five years, said Seth Sigman, analyst at Credit Suisse, wrote in a report. “This is driving significant growth in new customers” to Walmart.
Consumers adopting online grocery shopping may add to the pressure small and mid-sized grocers already face, analysts say. These smaller chains don’t have as much capital to invest in building out their delivery infrastructure. And delivery is less profitable for grocers than traditional purchases in stores.
Coronavirus “may hasten the adoption” of online delivery and pickup, touching off long-term challenges for smaller chains earlier than expected, Kelly Bania, analyst for BMO Capital Markets, said in a research report this week.
I attached four more NodeMCU (The name “NodeMCU” combines “Node” and “MCU” micro-controller unit) to my network this morning. These four are attached to a wireless access point near the garage and will control the shedding of loads and the solar charging to defend the refrigerator and our CPAPs with their last gasp.
For these small microcomputers to switch the loads I’ve bought some relay modules. They will either control the UPS using the Remote Off connection or larger relays to do the switching.
I attached five WiFi controlled outlets the Garage access point that I’ll use to switch UPS units on and off when solar is available. (Keeps me from opening the garage door to unplug them.) They can be programmed in advance with an assortment of triggers. I found five of the eight that I own, no idea where three of them are…
Had an awesome dinner and a good game of scrabble tonight. It’s looking like rain is approaching, but it was a beautiful day today.
Tomorrow: My last day with Triple Canopy and probably working altogether. (We’ll live on my AD retirement and SS)
https://www.verywellfamily.com/feelings-words-from-a-to-z-2086647
From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT set clear goals for the day? No
Did I DMBT make progress to those goals? No
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT fix something today? Yes
Did I DMBT improve something today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
Did I DMBT be fully engaged? Yes
*Did My Best To
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