OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Shoppers in the suburbs on the Kansas side of the Kansas City metropolitan area have a new option for grocery delivery. EasyBins began serving the area Thursday.
The Arkansas-based company sets itself apart by shopping at multiple stores for its customers, then packaging all the items into one temperature-controlled bin for one delivery. Sorters will pack those bins at a facility in Stilwell.
It works with stores like Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Aldi and more.
“We kind of put all the groceries that are in a market on our platform,” explained Keegen Knapp, EasyBins’ head of marketing. “You can even shop the same Walmart that's two minutes down the road and find that they're always out of your favorite brand of cereal, we will actually shop three or four Walmarts in the market so the chances of finding the product you want go up.”
EasyBins does not require a membership or subscription, nor a minimum order amount. It does not charge a delivery fee, but prices for products are slightly higher than if you shopped in person. Knapp said that translates into the average delivery costing about $8.
He said 70 percent of their orders involve items from two or more stores.
While some grocery services focus on speed, EasyBins delivers items at two set times. Anything ordered before noon arrives at your home at about 5 p.m. Anything ordered before 10 p.m. arrives at your home at about 6 a.m. the following day.
“Convenience for us is like low impact on our customers’ lives,” Knapp explained. “We don't we don't need you to answer the door. We don't need you to say, ‘I got it.’ We are trying to be as frictionless as possible in that exchange.”
In an ever-crowded field of grocery delivery options, how do you pick which is best?
KSHB 41tried to answer that question in April 2020. The end result was it depends on a customer’s needs.
If speed is a priority, Shipt and Instacart say deliveries can arrive within one hour when shoppers are in position.
If you plan to use multiple deliveries a year, some companies waive individual delivery fees for annual membership fees which save you money the more you use the service.
Walmart+ has a service that will deliver food and place it in your refrigerator while you’re gone, filming the entire process to give you security and peace of mind.
Knapp said the COVID-19 pandemic proved grocery delivery services are here to stay.
“[Grocery delivery] patterns didn't change after lockdowns ended,” Knapp said. “It gave people a taste of the options that were out there and people maintained the shopping behavior.”
To find out if EasyBins serves your zip code, visit its website. The company plans to expand in 2022.
