If shopping and finding good bargains is something that you get great pleasure from, why not learn how to become a personal grocery shopper? It very well may turn out to be a job that you’ll love for years to come!
It takes very few expenses to start a personal grocery shopper business. You don’t need formal training, but you will need a good eye for food prices brands and sales. Being able to focus on coupons, rebates, circulars, special sale days and store layouts are your tools of the trade.
Finding people who require your services might just be as easy as simply asking your neighbors if they’d like you to do their shopping for them one week. Busy working people with no time who want to spend more quality time at home or people who cannot get out to go shopping, like the elderly or those recuperating from surgery, may be great customers for your new service. Once they realized that they got everything they needed and didn’t have to leave the house and you even saved them money, your services paid for themselves. You gained a repeat customer and important referrals.
What You will Need to Become a Personal Grocery Shopper
Having a reliable vehicle is a must. A GPS would also be helpful to save time. It’s also a good idea to plan routes to different shopping centers prior to leaving. This way, you will be getting your job done as efficiently as possible. Check out the competition (if there is any). Maybe even use their service to see how they do and how much they charge. Grocery stores are now offering online ordering and sometimes free delivery but sometimes you do not receive just what you wanted, in the right size or brand, using the coupon with the sale item for the best deal or the freshest veggies, etc.
Having a custom grocery list for each client to use is not only helpful to them, but for you as well. You can also create an online site where you feature weekly sales, the best coupons and where to find them, take orders, answer questions and become the “grocery guru” positioning yourself as an expert. Never forget that when you become a personal grocery shopper, your customers trust you with their money (no debit or credit cards) and health. Not only are you 100% responsible with their money, you must also be careful so that any perishables and frozen items won’t go bad or thaw by the time you get them to your client’s residence. A cooler for the frozen items will be a must in the summer or warmer climates. A pouch or envelope for each client’s coupons and register receipt will keep them separate and can track of how much money you saved for them. Showing your clients the value of couponing on sale items can offset the cost of your services.
The choice is yours – you can either first start a personal grocery shopper business to deliver groceries or branch out into running other errands for your clients like picking up dry cleaning or waiting at the DMV, mailing packages at holiday time, etc..
Growing Your Business
If your goal is to grow your business as big as possible, definitely think about increasing the strength of your advertising to include places like local newspapers, store bulletin boards, assisted living facilities and social services agencies. Also try working with the grocery stores that do not offer an online service and delivery to promote your services.
You are going to have to take vehicle expenses like gas and insurance into consideration. You may think of a magnetic sign or lettering your vehicle so that it advertises your business when it is in the parking lot of the grocery stores or while you are doing your errands for clients. If a grocery store will allow, you could put a flyer on cars in the parking lot to advertise your services. Busy working people will want to fill their shopping carts with your services and you are able to expand into a bigger business. Then you’ll be really glad you learned how to become a personal grocery shopper!
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