You don’t have to feel bad about grocery shopping online during the coronavirus outbreak

If ordering delivery is potentially safer than risking it at the grocery store as COVID-19 (the official name for the disease caused by the new coronavirus) continues to spread globally, why does it feel almost wrong to sit in the comfort of your home and click on a screen so everything you want can be delivered to your front door?

Online delivery for groceries, cat food, art supplies, shoes, clothes, and so much more didn’t bother us too much before the coronavirus outbreak became a pandemic earlier this month. Now e-retailer Amazon is delaying shipments of “nonessential” items a month out to make way for food, medical supplies, and other, well, essentials. 

For smaller businesses, online delivery may be the only way to economically survive. But it comes with a lot of trade-offs, especially for employees and delivery workers. As a customer, making the pizza guy brave the outside world, away from a shelter-in-place order, can feel selfish. But then there’s the fact that the pizza guy is getting paid, and might not have work, otherwise. You’ve seen the memes (see below), but still: The mental calculus to decide if you suck for making someone bring you food or groceries is legitimately challenging. (If you do order delivery, one thing is clear. Tip well.)

My favorite small business is Imperfect Foods, a produce and grocery delivery subscription based in San Francisco that sources expired, surplus, and “ugly” foods at a discount with the mission to cut back on food waste. It’s 100-percent delivery-based (there are no bricks-and-mortar stores), but during this public health crisis, it’s been just as impacted as a physical grocery store. 

The company has to make decisions about how or if it should provide the same level of service while protecting its workforce. And then there’s keeping customers safe while also getting people what they need. 

In a message to customers last week, Imperfect CEO Philip Behn outlined how his workers face the same coronavirus-based issues as anyone. And while his employees may be deemed essential workers on the frontlines of the pandemic, the infectious respiratory illness doesn’t know that. That means things aren’t running as smoothly as usual. 

Image: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images

In his note to all customers, he explained how the company is handling a lot happening at once: “A spike in demand combined with labor shortages in our delivery fleet and packing facilities caused a large cancellation of orders.”

He went on to highlight the human side of the company. “As schools, transportation, and logistics in the communities we serve have been disrupted, many of our staff have had to deal with the same challenges we’re all facing: arranging for childcare, finding a new way to get to work, or taking the necessary precautions to keep themselves safe and healthy.” 

That doesn’t mean the company isn’t still trying to provide groceries. But it does mean customers should expect delayed orders and even cancellations. It’s a balancing act between customer needs, employee safety and abilities, and fiscal decisions. (Good to note: Imperfect has not fired or laid off any workers and doesn’t plan to if things continue as they are now.)

In a phone call this week with Mashable, Behn explained that as long as the company sticks to its priorities he can feel comfortable offering the grocery service during this time. “Everything starts by keeping our associates safe,” he said. “We don’t have the comfort of working from our homes.”

“Our second priority is to keep serving our communities,” he continued. “We’ve become a needed service. We have stepped up our already-high food safety procedures, and are supporting the physical, emotional, and economic wellbeing of our employees,” the CEO continued.

At Imperfect, that means a lot of talking things out among leadership, at all-hands meetings, and within unit teams. “We always start by asking people how they feel,” he said, especially now.

“The beautiful part of having a company that serves a social purpose is the sense of responsibility,” he said on the call. “That’s what keeps me energized…”

Yuni Sameshima, CEO of Chicory, the company behind the “Get Ingredients” button you may notice at the bottom of over 1,000 of recipe websites, laid out his thoughts on grocery delivery as people across the U.S. grapple with the morals of their consumption decisions. Do you put delivery workers at risk or put them out of a job? Do you physically go shopping and take the risk of catching or even spreading the illness while at a crowded store? There’s not a great solution for everyone. 

“From an ethics perspective, right now the best we can do as human citizens is social-distance ourselves,” he said in a recent phone call. “I think online grocery [shopping] accomplishes that social-distancing mission.”

So businesses like Imperfect are carrying on until it’s truly untenable. Sure they’re working with smaller and more constrained staffs, burdensome new safety and sanitation protocols — like no longer ringing doorbells and keeping all workers 6 feet part at all times — not to mention an anxious customer base. But they’re still offering products and bringing them to people in some capacity. And you don’t have to feel bad about using them.

In fact, while weighing your next purchase, knowing that businesses are also thinking about these things can help you decide the right move.