Hy-Vee extends reserved shopping times for ‘high-risk’ customers to online

Midwest retailer Hy-Vee announced Tuesday that it will be reserving one hour of Hy-Vee Aisles Online shopping time slots each day for customers who are considered “high-risk” during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aisles Online is Hy-Vee’s grocery ordering service available at hy-vee.com/grocery/ or via the Hy-Vee Aisles Online mobile app.

Starting Thursday, April 3, the reserved Aisles Online time slots will be from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., seven days a week, which coincides with the in-store hours reserved for customers who are ages 60 and older; expectant mothers; and anyone with an underlying health condition that makes them more susceptible to serious illness.

Pharmacies at Hy-Vee locations are also open to serve these customers from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. These locations include pharmacies inside its grocery stores, Mainstreet locations, Dollar Fresh stores and Hy-Vee Drugstores. All other customers are asked to respect this hour reserved for these high-risk customers, and limit their online shopping orders to time slots available 8 a.m. or after, seven days a week.

West Des Moines, Iowa-based Hy-Vee, which operates 265 stores in eight Midwestern states, also announced last week that it had partnered with DoorDash to offer free delivery to high-risk customers. In communities where Hy-Vee Aisles Online delivery orders are fulfilled by DoorDash, customers can use designated promo code “SPECIALDELIVERY” at checkout when they place their online order for delivery. The code will also be available on the Hy-Vee website. The promotion with DoorDash can be used for any available Hy-Vee Aisles Online time slot and will cover as many as 20,000 free deliveries.

Related:Grocery retailers waive DoorDash delivery fees for older customers

San Francisco-based DoorDash said Friday that in addition to Hy-Vee, more than 2,000 grocery stores across the country will participate in the program, including Woodman’s Market, Kowalski’s Markets and hundreds of independent grocers like Piggly Wiggly, LifeThyme Natural Market, Le District and Matherne’s, among others.

“In our continued emphasis on safety and health throughout this crisis, we want to make sure that those who are most at risk are able to shop for their daily grocery needs online and access affordable and safe on-demand grocery options without ever having to leave their homes,” Casey North, vice president of DoorDash Drive, the company’s white-label delivery logistics platform. “We are proud to team up with our partners in the grocery industry to make this a reality across stores nationally.”

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Related:Coronavirus: How leading grocery chains are responding to keep customers safe and shelves stocked