How would i charge for this service??

Question

i have a new idea for a small biz but am stumped as to how to charge for a service like this. i am advertising to do your grocery shopping for you. i will go to the grocery store, shop for your items, and deliver them to your home. i know i must account for gas expense and my time but thats my question..... how much? what would you pay for it? would you take advantage of something like this? i offer my services to elderly, busy working parents, or for people who just hate doing it. what do you think????

Answer 1

hello - without knowing where you are located this one is a little hard to answer, but assuming you have checked around and your local stores really dont offer anything like this then yoou may be on to something.  i might try to offer it in a different way though - offer two levels of service - one where you will pick up what they are looking for and charge a flat hourly rate for that.  

maybe another offer, especially now, would be where they give you the shopping list, and you do the work to find coupons etc. on line to keep the costs as low as possible, charge a slightly higher hourly rate for those (but not for the research time) and that could differentiate you enough to someone that they hire you.  

also, i would think about if you are going to offer to put all the grociers away as well, or just drop them off, is this a weekly service, or when they call you, is this an offer to go to the store of their choice or yours, willl you go to BJs or Costco for them or just local grocery etc.  if you think through these things in advance you can think throuygh the right amount to charge, but you may undercharge if you are asked something on the spot.

good luck

Answer 2

Many large supermarket chains already have that service, and you couldn't compete because they only have a delivery charge that is $7-10 above the cost of the groceries.  Most elderly or busy people don't even like to pay this much of a service charge as food costs too much already.

Answer 3

I can't speak for others on this, and don't know your area, but I happily pay a 6.95 delivery fee plus a 5.00 tip to get my groceries delivered from a grocery that does provide the service.  Hope that helps.