Food Lion expands grocery pick up

Salisbury, N.C.-based supermarket operator Food Lion LLC is expanding its “Food Lion To Go” grocery pickup service to 25 additional stores in the Carolinas, a move, that along with its recent expansion of home delivery, is enabling pickup or home delivery in 86% of its 10-state operation area.

“With some of the busiest months ahead for our customers, we are excited to expand this convenient service to more stores in the Food Lion footprint so our customers can spend more time on what matters most to them,” Evan Harding, Food Lion director of digital and ecommerce, said in a statement. “With the ‘Food Lion To Go’ service, we provide our neighbors the option to shop through the channel they prefer, in-store or online, still ensuring they have access to the freshest groceries at affordable prices.”

Shoppers visit the program website or open the Food Lion To Go app on their smart phone. After entering a zip code and selecting the closest participating store, shoppers can add fresh groceries or everyday essentials to their virtual carts, before selecting a pickup time, which can be same day or up to seven days in advance.

An associate then picks, packs and stores the order until the customer arrives and then loads it into the vehicle. The service is available from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily and the first pickup is free.

Including the additional stores, the program is now available at more than 650 stores in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

“Food Lion continues to expand this new service across the towns and cities it serves, highlighting its commitment to make grocery shopping easy, fresh and affordable,” the company said in a statement. “The launch of this service comes just in time to make holiday shopping even easier.”

The expansion of the program follows the announcement last week that Food Lion is adding additional zip codes in Georgia and South Carolina to its home delivery service.  Customers also can initiate home delivery on the “Food Lion To Go” website or app.

Food Lion is waiving the delivery fee for the first order of $35 or more that customers place online. The service is supported by Instacart.

Shoppers leveraging home delivery or the to go program can apply digital coupons to purchases and also redeem savings from the retailer’s “Shop & Earn” rewards program while also viewing their accumulated rewards on the checkout screen and the clipped digital coupons for their order.

There are more than 1,100 total Food Lion outlets in North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Maryland, Georgia, Tennessee, Delaware, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.