Start A Local Grocery Delivery Service


Would you consider paying someone to do the jobs you hate doing? You would certainly pay someone to do the jobs you cannot do yourself or find difficult to do, wouldn’t you?

While you may find it easy to get your own groceries there are plenty of people who aren’t so lucky. In these situations they would gladly pay a little extra to have someone do their shopping for them and deliver it all to their home. Essentially you would be providing a smaller, more local and arguably friendlier version of the large scale services offered by some of the bigger stores.

While you can certainly deliver groceries for people who find it hard to get out and about and carry heavy shopping home, you’ll also find a ready market in younger people who are pushed for time.

This can influence how you promote your services as well, since you will want to be visible to the people who are most likely to use your delivery service. For example, younger people are far more likely to be connected to the internet, so it’s worth investing the money to get a website up and running that people can see.

Incidentally there are also a number of organizations in the US that offer to help you in this respect, and for a fee they will provide a fully customized website and lots of help and advice on getting started in this business. The website allows people to actually order their groceries online, and you then deliver them to the customer. This is grocery delivery on a much larger scale though, as it could really take off – so make sure you are prepared to go the whole hog if you go for this particular option.

If running things on a smaller scale appeals to you, you could always start off on by promoting your services via word of mouth and professionally designed business cards stating what you do. For example you could focus just on your elderly neighbors to begin with, speaking to people you know and generally spreading the word to get your first few clients. Once you have got underway you can then start to develop your business gradually.

What are the requirements? Well as we’ve seen you can do without a website if you want to start small, but you may find a car is a virtual necessity if you are doing a lot of shopping for one or more people in a single day. You don’t want to be spending all your profits on taxi cabs!

As for personal traits you’ll need to enjoy getting out and about and meeting people – and you’ll certainly get plenty of exercise. This isn’t for everyone but if you aren’t afraid of a bit of hard work then it could suit you right down to the ground.

If you’re thinking about giving this a try, leave us a comment by using the form below. We are always pleased to hear from you.

5 Responses to “Start A Local Grocery Delivery Service”

  1. cheryl says:

    I have been looking into this for a while now and I would like to start out on a smaller scale first and then branch out. thank yiou for the info

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  2. Jason says:

    Hello everyone,

    I currently offer this service and would love to lend some advice on starting your own. It is a true money making business. I gross six figures for 2009. Email me at jstocks@expresscleanar.com and I would get back to you.

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  3. Brian says:

    I’ve been kicking this idea around for a while as well. Has anyone found any more detailed sources of information? Lots of google hits for “starting a grocery delivery service”, but not a lot of useful information.

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  4. Amanda says:

    I will be trying this as well. Small scale 1st.

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  5. Jason says:

    I am thinking of doing this on a small scale however, if I see profits obviously I will be going to a larger scale, now I was wondering if you could tell me if I am going to need a Federal Tax # or EIN? and Sales Tax # if so do I merely apply for these online with the IRS? and whats a typical salary for this type of service I do have some fee’s and prices of my own set but I have not ever done anything like this and well frankly need some real help to get it up and running I’m hoping to have this running by the end of the holiday’s.

    [Reply]


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