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Grocery store technology making life easier for parents

Posted at 6:30 PM, May 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-19 11:59:30-04

Here at 13 Action News we know life can get a little overwhelming at times with kids, work and after-school activities.

To help make your life easier, we looked into how technology is changing the way people go food shopping, and saving a lot of time in the process.

Melissa Colon started using Smith's grocery pickup service shortly after her one-month-old daughter Maya was born.

She found the service when she realized her time management had to change.

"Depending on when [Maya] needs to eat is when I can run errands or when I can do laundry or run to the store really quickly," Colon said.

Now, Colon places her order online and schedules a pickup time. When she arrives, employees bring the bags right to her car.

"My life has changed," Colon said. "This is amazing. I may never go back into a grocery store again unless I really need some alone time from my toddler."

When Colon picked up her groceries Thursday, Stacy Lee was one car over doing the same thing.

Lee has two young children, and she calls the service a lifesaver.

Smith's charges a $5 fee for online grocery orders that you can pick up at the store.

"It's [a $5 fee] which to me is worth it," Lee said. "I will pay five dollars any day to do this and not have [the kids] screaming around the entire store."

There's also technology to have groceries brought to your home.

Albertson's and Von's have a delivery app that requires a $49 minimum purchase.

If the order is more than $150, the fee is $9.95. That jumps to $12.95 if the order is smaller.

They'll give you a one-hour delivery window, and same-day delivery is available if you order early enough in the morning.

Envoy is an app that allows you to shop at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.

Their delivery fee is $12 plus 10 percent of the bill, but there's no minimum order amount.

An Envoy membership costs $19 per month.

Amazon Prime offers grocery deliveries in addition to all the other Prime services.

That subscription costs $99 per year.

Amazon will deliver for free within two hours of ordering.