Written by: Emma Boughman
Curbside pickup services and a new ordering website are now available to all Village Market customers. In an email to the Accent, Nick Johnson, assistant manager, stated that the Village Market wanted to give customers a new, more convenient way to shop its products.
“Our online ordering and curbside pickup service is a great way to conveniently shop at Village Market,” Johnson stated. “We add new products to the site on a daily basis, and it’s the best way to view our weekly and monthly sales flyers.”
Customers can filter products online by department, brand or item type, according to Johnson. In-store shopping promotions are also available while shopping online. Once selections are made, customers can choose a pickup time and park in the pickup spots in the Village Market parking lot. Staff will then bring their orders to their vehicles.
“Customers who sign up and activate their account can receive their first order with no pickup fee, and they can also take advantage of special online-only promotions not available in-store,” Johnson stated.
“Students are welcome to shop online; however, because of the way student meal plans and account charges are set up, they can only use their student ID cards when in-store shopping, and unfortunately not online,” Johnson stated.
Currently, there is no way to identify meal plan-eligible items on the shopping site; however, at the bottom of the homepage, a link explains the items that are meal-plan eligible, according to Johnson.
The Village Market has been trying to offer these online services for the last six years.
“Because there were unique challenges that third-party online shopping integration companies couldn’t solve up until roughly four months ago, we’re just now able to offer online shopping for our customers,” Johnson stated.
Johnson explained that since they do not have an in-house IT or marketing team, keeping the site up-to-date will be challenging yet rewarding for everyone. Furthermore, having the needed employees to help with the picking process is key. According to Johnson, the Village Market is always looking for new student workers in various departments, and students can fill out an application on the website or visit the customer service desk.
