Cost of convenience: Is it cheaper to shop curbside or in

What began as a pandemic necessity has now become a weekly routine for many families: curbside grocery pickup, home delivery and mobile app ordering.

Purchasing certain items in-store is often cheaper than opting for curbside pickup.

However, how much extra are shoppers paying for the convenience of skipping that in-store visit?

San Antonio residents Karla Skates and her husband, Jorge Mata, have been tracking the cost difference between curbside orders and in-store shopping. What they found may surprise you.

“We use it weekly,” Skates said. “Every week I sit down, typically on a Saturday night, do our grocery list, load it up, and then pick it up on Sunday.”

These curbside trips have become routine. According to Skates and Mata, the curbside service has almost become a “necessity.”