BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – VISITORS to and residents of St. Kitts and Nevis can now go grocery shopping without the hassle of leaving home as Caribbean Grocery Shopping brings its online shopping services to the Federation.
Caribbean Grocery Shopping began in 2009 and started as a business to provide relief for vacationers arriving at their Caribbean villa or condominium too late to do proper grocery shopping. Within a year, the business is shaking the Federation with its service now offered to locals.
It provides online grocery shopping via Horsford’s Valu Mart IGA and delivers your bags of grocery right to your door the very day, without you having to leave the comfort of your home. This convenient service removes the usual hassle of going to the supermarket, waiting in long lines, circling for parking spot and spending too much time off-schedule. Instead, this new online service has, with the use of technology, set a pace to revolutionise the traditional shopping for Kittitians and Nevisians, and the region by extension. With Caribbean Grocery Shopping, it cannot be business as usual.
This innovative product is the brainchild of regional entrepreneur Natalie John, Founder and CEO of the internationally-awarded Dreamy Weddings. To her, online shopping is a step in the right direction for visitors to the island, busy adults or individuals who would simply prefer to shop in their own comfort and convenience.
“Traditional businesses are no longer the order of the day; the internet has just revolutionised everything! And so, in terms of people wanting to be able to have access to stuff now...people having more things to do and less time to do them, being able to shop for your groceries online, I believe, is something that on the local market would be a plus,” John told SKNVibes.
From the first click of the mouse to the house delivery, Caribbean Grocery Shopping truly makes shopping a hassle-free and pleasurable experience. Shopping online takes the same time as reading an online news article, scanning a few photos on your computer and even less time than brushing your teeth. So customers can now have more time to focus on their lives while their shopping is being taken care of by the able staff of Caribbean Grocery Shopping.
A visit to the website www.caribbeangroceryshopping.com opens customers to a virtual supermarket in the form of a clear, organised, user-friendly interface. Products are sorted according to their type, including but not limited to dairy, beverages, meats and cleaning agents, and a drop list shows all the available brands and sizes in that amount. A simple click of a cursor button can add items to or remove from your virtual shopping cart, move throughout the online aisles and, with a Visa or Master Card, payment is a swift and secure feature. This is certainly shopping for the 21st century!
The benefits, according to John, are obvious and equally satisfying.
“Many of us go to the supermarket intending to buy one item, and when you reach you have a whole basket. What online shopping I think would do is to help persons create that sort of discipline; you’re not seeing everything right there in front of you as they are in the aisles...
“The convenience again is extremely important. If you’re a working mom and you wanted to go to get some items but you just didn’t have the time, you know you don’t have to rush; you can just go online and order the items that you want,” she said.
Another benefit, she noted, is that families living abroad could do shopping for local families and have it delivered to their homes. This works as an ideal form of remittance for the sick, shut-in, needy or for close family members or friend.
The online resources allow customers to set up a user account. Once a customer logs in, you can track your spending, review your previous shopping and even compare shopping over weekly and monthly periods. Additionally, customers can add money to a credit account and buy accordingly.
In order to guarantee same-day delivery, customers need to make their online orders before 5:00 p.m. during Monday to Saturday. On Sunday, online shopping must be done by 10:00 a.m. for grocery to be delivered on that same day. The convenience of shopping online comes with a very reasonable price tag - a service fee of 15 percent and a nominal delivery fee added to the overall bill – which is an incomparable deal.
CEO John said she is extremely pleased that Horsford’s Valu Mart IGA was able to partner with her business and as this service increases in demand, so too will her hopes for expansion increase.
Within the next three to five years, Caribbean Grocery Shopping is expected to be offered in at least three different islands. So, before you visit paradise or before you continue your traditional and time-consuming shopping, visit www.caribbeangroceryshopping.com and bring the shopping to your home.
