Trader Joe’s is adopting a stand-fast policy compared to competitors with regard to online ordering, click-and-collect and curbside delivery.  Matt Sloan, Vice President of Marketing for Trader Joes stated "creating an online shopping system for curbside pickup or the infrastructure for delivery is a massive undertaking".  He added "it's something that takes months or years to plan, build an implement and it requires tremendous resources".

Curbside pickup requires planning and investment

Sloan maintains that over the past decade the company has invested resources in people. This is ironic given that Trader Joe’s is in the midst of a labor dispute with employees agitating to form a union.  The company is criticized for not offering hazard pay to employees. The amount of COVID-19 bonuses and the duration of paid sick leave are considered to be inadequate.  On April 21st, Trader Joe’s announced that the company had instituted health checks for workers, adding intensified decontamination of stores and is installing plexiglass barriers for check-out workers.

Given the reluctance of many supermarket shoppers to risk infection, and noting the popularity of click-and-collect and online delivery, it is inexplicable how Trader Joe’s can be so tone deaf to both customers and employees and dismissive of trends in grocery purchasing.