The Grocery Shopping App that Changed the Way I Shop

Grocery is a smart shopping list application that has revolutionized my grocery shopping experience. Grocery learns how I shop, customizes the experience based on the store I’m shopping at, and allows me to collaborate with <3M to build our grocery list. It’s the best thing since sliced bread. But for real this time.

Earlier this week I shared my favorite online store, Thrive Market, and how it helps save me money while shopping for all my household and pantry staples. Today, I’m sharing how I streamline my in-store shopping trip with Grocery, my favorite shopping list application.

The team behind the app, Ryan Considine and Conrad Stoll (who are old coworkers of mine), are a ridiculously talented duo when it comes to design, engineering and product development — as evident by Grocery.  At our previous jobs, Ryan and I had talked openly about our shared frustrations with typical shopping list applications. So, when I heard these two got together to create a list app, I knew whatever they launched would solve all my grocery shopping issues.

Here’s how my grocery shopping used to go down

• Meal plan with recipes for the week
• Create a list of necessary items to make the recipes
• Add our weekly go-to groceries to the list (eggs, chicken, kale…)
• Organize the shopping list order to match how I shop my way through the store
• Do the actual grocery shopping while fumbling with my phone, hoping the screen doesn’t time out and lock
• Backtrack through the store because I missed an item at the bottom of my list…

Oh, and because I live in Austin, I also have to remember to bring my own reusable bags too. Unfortunately, this is one issue Grocery hasn’t solved. (I’ll give them a pass here, though).

But, as you can see, I used to put a lot of time and organization into grocery shopping.  Obviously, others share these same frustrations which is why I’m so thankful to Conrad and Ryan for taking every feature I could have ever possibly wanted in a grocery list app and making it a reality. 

Hallelujah. 

Grocery is my new favorite productivity app.

Here’s how it works

Create your List

Simply type in all of the grocery items you need for the week. There’s even a handy notes feature paired with each item, should you want to note the size or quantity of a product required or specify a certain type.

For example, you can write “onion, white” or “onion, red” and Grocery won’t need to learn the sort order of two items — it just knows onions come after potatoes (because obviously, white onions and red onions are next to one another in the store).

You can also use the Quick Add option (which will become smarter the more you use Grocery). The Quick Add feature identifies patterns in your grocery purchases (items you buy again and again) and adds them to the Quick Add list so you can access your frequent purchases and quickly build your grocery list each week.

Grocery can also simplify your list creation process by allowing you to

• add items to your list with Siri
• copy/paste a list of items from a website (like from a recipe!) and Grocery will automatically split up into separate items on your list (while cleaning it up!)

Choose Your Store & Shop

Next up, you choose the store you’re doing your grocery shopping at. For me, I rotate between a few stores depending on the errands I’m running so the order in which I pick up my grocery items varies each week.

And this is where Grocery becomes a game changer.

With the Store feature, Grocery knows that at Trader Joe’s I pick up hummus after I grab all of my produce but while shopping at HEB, I’ll pick up hummus before I grab my produce and it orders my list accordingly, depending on the store I’ve selected. With Grocery I shop more efficiently and never have to backtrack for an item. 

Other Awesome Perks

Apple Watch Integration

Now, this isn’t a requirement but Grocery is a dream to use with . You just put your phone away, and Grocery serves up the list in the order you need to shop it in, right on your wrist. Or, you can keep your phone out and simply work the list top to bottom and you’ll never miss an aisle or item because Grocery knows where you’re headed next.

List Sharing

If you collaborate on a grocery list with your roommate or partner, you can still do so with Grocery. Grocery works with the iOS Reminders app so as long as you’re sharing a list through Reminders with others, Grocery can pull the items from it and order them within the Grocery app without requiring you to manually transfer each item.

You can also turn on notifications so you get notified when someone you’re sharing a list with adds a new item, which is super helpful if your partner adds something in the midst of your shopping trip!

The Little Things

Conrad & Ryan also paid attention to the details when building out Grocery

• For those with OCD, you can customize your list to always capitalize the first letter of an item when you enter it into the list 
• If you love counting, you can turn on the app’s icon badge so you know the number of items on your grocery list at a glance
• For the produce aficionados, you can choose your own app icon to personalize the experience
  • Currently, I’m digging the avocado but I’ve got my eye on the eggplant too

One Last Thing

In order for Grocery to work best, you’ll need to use it a few times at each store before it learns your shopping order. Think of it like a baby, you need to educate it over time.  Obviously, Grocery doesn’t know the order you shop in without interacting with it a few times and checking off items as you make your way around the store. I found Grocery took about 4 shopping trips to truly become smart. Which, in my opinion, is pretty darn quick! 

Honestly, I couldn’t be happier with Grocery. Nowadays, I actually look forward to the shopping experience!  I only hope Ryan & Conrad continue to build out the feature set to make it even smarter. It’s truly changed the way I grocery shop and given me back a good chunk of my weekend. 

If you download Grocery, be sure to leave Conrad & Ryan a review on the App Store. And tell them Alyssa sent you!