Provide a response to students discussion post:

What do you think of Amazon's move to online grocery delivery? Does it give the company a competitive advantage?

I think the move to the online grocery store does give it an advantage in certain demographics. According to PEW research, 41% of families have two parents working in 2014. Grocery shopping is an activity that takes time and with both parents working, time is limited. Time is finite. No one can create or eliminate time only 24 hours in one day. By shopping online, this frees up time to do other activities and chores.

If there is only 1 person working in the household or it is a non-family, on line grocery shopping is a push. This activity is purely a time sensitive activity. The only demographic that it is an advantage is with those that have time constraints.

Other stores now offer online grocery shopping. Safeway offers a service called Peapod which delivers groceries to your door. Walmart offers curbside pickup and Frys is now piloting a grocery delivery service. The convenience of Amazon allows users to buy essential anything, groceries or other goods, in one cart and have home delivery.

Identify one of your favorite grocery stores. What attracts you to it? Can you think of anything the store has done to draw your patronage and stop you from buying online? Is there anything further they could do to retain your loyalty?

Our local grocery store is a chance to have a family outing. We, as a family, go to the store and mingle with the community. We talk to the employees and other shoppers and it is a way to get a feel for our neighbors. On line shopping is great and convenient, but it separates everyone from each other. One might have a neighbor that works at the grocery store and supporting that business will keep neighbors employed. We dont always go to the grocery store as our schedule is hectic and does not always allow for these trips but we go when we can.