Click-and-collect service rolls out to more Food Lion stores

Next week, Food Lion plans to launch its Food Lion To-Go online grocery pickup service at 50 more stores in five states.

The Salisbury, N.C.-based supermarket chain said yesterday that click-and-collect ordering will become available at additional stores in Delaware, the Carolinas, Virginia and West Virginia starting on Oct. 14. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at each location to introduce customers to the new service, and shoppers will be offered their first pickup for free.

With the new pickup sites, Food Lion will have 200 stores offering the To-Go service. The chain initially tested the program at three stores in 2017 before expanding the pilot to another 50 stores last year. Most recently, in August, pickup service was rolled out to 25 stores in North Carolina and Virginia.

“We are so excited to expand this convenient service to more stores in the Food Lion footprint and enable customers to spend more time on what matters most to them,” Deborah Sabo, senior vice president of marketing at Food Lion, said in a statement. “With the Food Lion To-Go service, our associates become personal shoppers and are able to hand-pick the freshest produce and best cuts of meat, just as they would for their own family."

Through the To-Go click-and-collect service, customers can shop for and buy groceries — including fresh produce, meat and seafood, as well as deli and bakery items — at shop.foodlion.com or via a dedicated mobile app and have them available for pickup at a local store in as soon as an hour.

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Perishables are stored in a refrigerated or frozen space, and hot food and other fresh items are packed just before shoppers’ scheduled arrival at the store. Upon arrival, shoppers park in a designated To-Go space, and a Food Lion associate brings out their groceries and loads them into their car.

Available daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., the To-Go service costs $1.99 for orders of $35 or more and $3.99 for orders less than $35. Pickup requires a minimum purchase of $10. Items bought through the To-Go service have the same pricing as in Food Lion stores, and members of the Food Lion MVP Rewards program also can apply savings to click-and-collect purchases.

Part of Ahold Delhaize USA, Food Lion operates more than 1,000 supermarkets in 10 Southeastern states. Ahold Delhaize said it aims to have pickup available at more than 600 U.S. supermarkets by the end of the year. In August, the company reported that it added 124 click-and-collect points during the second quarter, mostly at Food Lion and Giant/Martin's stores, for a total of 483 U.S. pickup locations.

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