When it comes to grocery shopping, I believe there are two types of people. There’s the happy-gourmet who loves to cook, “dabble” with new recipes, use fresh spices and leisurely stroll through the grocery store marveling at leafy green vegetables. It’s a culinary adventure!
Then there’s me …
I’m always in a rush, so my goal is to zip through the aisles at an efficient pace — no time for small talk or tasting samples or reading labels — whatever I touch goes in the cart. If I accidentally pick up heavy whipping cream instead of milk, oh well. Grocery shopping is like a military strike — I need to get in and get out quickly with minimal causalities.
Over the past few months, my friends have been chirping about “curbside,” and how wonderful it is. Chalk it up to a New Year’s resolution, but I finally gave H-E-B Curbside Grocery Pickup a spin this week. If you’re already a Curbside groupie, perhaps you have some helpful tips for us newbies?
If you haven’t tried it yet, here’s how it works …
As my sweet friend explained to me, “you just go to the H-E-B website and shop for your groceries, Cathy. Geez, it isn’t rocket science!?” All kidding aside, yes, it’s seriously that simple.
Mental stumbling blocks
Of course, most people in Lake Travis can come up with reasons why online grocery shopping won’t work for them:
But I’m a brand junkie! I like specific products. Have no fear, there are photos of each product with a description, so you know exactly what you’re getting.
I shop prices, so how will I know what’s on sale? Sale items are indicated in a variety of ways. In fact, you can shop ONLY sale items by filtering your search.
What about little snacky items? Surely they don’t list everything online. Ahh, but they do. You can add a 1.5 oz Kit Kat bar to your order just like you do in the checkout line.
What about deli meats and prepared food-to-go? You can find all of it online and customize an order like you normally do.
I’m sure it’s expensive. How much extra does it cost to use Curbside service? The flat fee is $4.95.
H-E-B to you
- Head over to the H-E-B Curbside Website and pick your H-E-B store.
- You need to register to create an account. That way, when you shop again, your info will be in the system.
- When you’re ready to shop, you can do it by category, filters or do custom searches. For me, I shopped online the way I do in person, so I used the search tool at the top and typed in what I wanted.
- Find the items you want to buy and save them to your cart. Click “+” or “-” to adjust quantities.
- If you have specific requests for certain items, you can leave a note. Maybe you like your deli meats sliced thin or you like your bananas green. Just click “Add Note” under the item in your cart and save your comments.
- When you’re finished shopping, pay for your groceries online.
- Head over to H-E-B during your pickup time and park in a Curbside space.
- Text your parking slot number to 99147 and a smiling H-E-B Partner will soon appear, rolling a cart full of your groceries to your car.
Something to consider
Scheduling will be important, so planning ahead is best. Chances are, you can place an order midday and pick it up by 3pm that same day during the week.
Sundays and Mondays are the busiest for H-E-B Lakeway, so placing an order on Saturday or Sunday means you may have to schedule a pickup the following day. You can use the “Reserve a Time Slot” tool at the top of the page to see available days/times.
Pros of online shopping
I immediately realized the benefits of shopping online when I paid for my groceries. I bought everything we needed and nothing we didn’t, so my bill was significantly lower.
I also appreciated the selection of certain items that I hadn’t noticed before when I shopped in person. Plus, the ease of it all was fantastic.
Have you tried H-E-B Curbside? Share your tips with us in the comments section on our Facebook page.
It sounds easy enough for me to use. Will give it a try. Good explanation. Thanks.
I have used it about 4 times. 3 out of 4 times they have messed my orders badly. Two times I had to go back and pick up multiple bags they forgot to put in my car and they like to replace items that are out of stock with items that are not even similar. I think it is fine for smaller orders but not large orders :(. I used the Bee Caves 71 locations all times.
There is no doubt that they will not be as selective in picking fresh produce as I am. Major downside
Ok for dry goods but the curbside shoppers made terrible produce and meat selections. All my fruit was bruised and if you’re picky about which steak you want forget about.