New grocery shopping service goes online in Wichita

Dillon Stores officially unveiled its online order pick-up system, ClickList, at its 21st and Maize store this week.

It will have the system in five more Wichita-area stores by the end of the year, according to the company. The Eagle first reported in April that the online service was coming to Wichita.

With ClickList, customers go to www.dillons.com/clicklist, order by midnight from a list that includes nearly all items in the store, and pick them up the next day at the store between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Store employees will round up the items and load them into the car.

The service is free for the first three occasions and will cost $4.95 per occasion after that.

Wal-Mart already offers an online ordering and free pick-up service in its Wichita stores. Sam’s Club also offer a similar service.

Tony Salinas, division ecommerce manager for Dillons, said that 85 percent of the store is available online. The only items not being sold through ClickList are the hot prepared foods, clothes, prescription medication and alcohol.

To make the service possible, the company added two large new refrigerators, a freezer in the rear, and a dedicated entrance in the rear of the building. Customers park near the entry, call the employees and wait in the car for loading.

Shelly Rich, HealthICT program coordinator, said that it will encourage more busy people to buy food that’s good for them, rather than just convenient.

“I think this is great, and can encourage more people to skip going through McDonald’s drive-through and to eat more fruits and vegetables,” Rich said.

Megan Sauer, shopper, parent, and family and consumer science teacher at Maize High School, tried out ClickList on Friday.

She said it means big convenience for her, and expects to use it weekly.

“It had all my staple goods right there for me,” Sauer said, as Dillons employees loaded up her minivan. “I got everything, fresh produce, meat, dog food and bubble bath for the kids. We found it all.”

She is part of a key demographic, say experts and company officials. Busy mothers, who dread the weekly struggle of getting kids in and out of cars, and through the stores, are a natural market, Salinas said.

But he also mentioned the elderly, businesses, and really, anybody who could use another hour a week to do something else.

Dillons is merely the latest to offer such a service. Dillons parent, Kroger, introduced the service in 2014 in Cincinnati and is rolling it out across its many divisions.

Wal-Mart is also in the process of unrolling its service, recently announcing it was adding eight more cities, including Kansas City. The expansion will increase the number of stores with the service to about 200 in 30 cities including Wichita.

Traditional grocers are trying to stay even with Amazon, which ships a wide-range of packaged groceries, home and beauty goods through its regular delivery.

Salinas said Kroger is experimenting with home delivery, but that it’s not available in Wichita, yet.

People grow more technologically savvy every day, and demand that their grocery story adapt, Salinas said.

“We are responding to customer demand,” Salinas said.

This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 11:14 AM with the headline "New grocery shopping service goes online in Wichita."