Whew, what a world we are living in right now.
We’ve all had to adapt to unprecedented changes. Working from home, children by our sides, no activities to go to, self-isolating, empty grocery store shelves, fear of the unknown (how long will our supply of toilet paper last?). New routines, or lack thereof, have emerged.
If that’s the case, we’d like to offer a new way for you to shop for our products. We now offer online shopping with pickup and home delivery!
Offering home delivery is something we’ve been thinking about doing for awhile. According to the U.S. Online Grocery Survey, almost 37% of us used online grocery shopping in 2019. Many customers seek convenience these days, and with so many large grocers offering online ordering plus pickup or delivery, it was definitely something for our small business to look into.
With the onset of COVID-19 and people being told to “just stay home,” we knew we had to begin offering this service sooner than later.
Your time is valuable. We don’t carry all the items you could get at a chain grocery store, so we know shopping at our stores means making an extra stop. (And we super appreciate those who do!) But this is another way we can reach people who want to purchase our local items in a convenient way.
We are using a site called Mercato, an online delivery service geared toward small, independent grocery stores. While they have many merchants located on the coasts, they just recently started gaining customers in the Midwest.
When you think about it, there is a lot that goes into this type of service — putting a library of items in an online purchasing format, allowing product substitutions, accepting payments, scheduling deliveries, transportation liability, etc. Mercato takes care of all these moving parts, allowing us to keep focusing on operating our storefront. So while our store employees fulfill the orders, we rely on Mercato’s third-party couriers to make the deliveries.
We activated our Mercato site for our Waterloo location first. We recently advertised promo code STOCKUP to let customers try us out. This code offers free delivery for 30 days plus $10 off your first $35 order. After a few bumps in the road, I think the code finally works now — sorry to those of you who had trouble at first! Full disclosure: You do have to sign up for their Mercato Green delivery subscription service to receive the savings — BUT if you are planning to continue to utilize delivery from Hansen’s Dairy, it’s a pretty good deal. Cost ranges from $8/month to $19/month for unlimited deliveries (instead of paying per delivery), depending on your distance from the store.
You can always choose “Pickup” as well, which is always free. Regardless of what method you choose, there is a $25.00 minimum order.
Now that we’ve worked out the kinks at our Waterloo store, we’re offering service from our Cedar Falls store as well.
We currently have about 200 items in each online store, and all of the prices online are the same as you’d find in store.
Here’s a quick tutorial.
If you live closest to the Waterloo store (3015 Kimball Avenue), click here. That store services these zip codes: 50614, 50623, 50634, 50667, 50701, 50702, 50703, 50704, and 50707.
If you live closest to the Cedar Falls store (127 E. 18th Street), click here. That store services 50613, 50614, 50701, 50702, 50704 and 50707. As you can see, there is some overlap in the delivery area with Waterloo, so you may have to check delivery rates to see what is the cheaper option for you.
It may prompt you right away to sign up for free delivery:
Click “Get Started,” and it will bring you to the next screen. That’s where you can enter the promo code STOCKUP for 30 days of free delivery and $10 off your first $35 order. You do have to enter in your credit card information, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. (You should be able to just type in STOCKUP at the checkout time as well.)
Then you can just start shopping! If there is an item you don’t see, it may be out of stock or not online yet. Call the Waterloo store at 319-234-3309 or Cedar Falls at 319-266-3044 if are wondering about a certain product.
It will also ask how you want substitutions to be handled if a certain product is out of stock at the time of fulfillment — replace with best option, call before replacing, or don’t replace.
If you choose to utilize this new service from us, thanks for giving us a chance to serve you in a new way. And thanks for your patience if there are other kinks to work out!
Here’s a deal we’re offering right now on our Easter hams both in store and on Mercato:
- Buy a half Holiday Ham, get 1 gallon of white milk FREE
- Buy a whole Holiday Ham, get 2 gallons of white milk FREE
- For in store use, click here for the coupon (print or show on mobile device)
- For use on Mercato, enter “HAMCOUPON” in the Delivery Instructions box and note Whole, 1% or Skim for your choice of free milk(s). You can also show the coupon on your mobile device or mention the deal at Pickup.
By the way, we are fortunate as a food supplier to be able to stay open during these uncertain times. Please consider buying a gift card or supporting our local eateries through takeout/delivery while they have been forced to close to eat-in traffic. You can find a list of Cedar Valley businesses providing such services at Cedar Valley Strong.
