Is ordering 7-Eleven online for delivery better than going in-person?

It’s getting cold outside…and that means we don’t want to leave the warm comfort of our kotatsu, never mind the climate-controlled confines of our homes. I mean, there’s a worldwide pandemic going on, so we should be staying at home anyway. Right? Yeah.

Our Japanese-language reporter Ahiru Neko fears that his hibernation will result in him starving to death before New Year’s, though, so he decided he had to do something about getting some food. Luckily, he happened to get a flyer in the mail from 7-Eleven, which he almost threw in the trash if not for a certain message catching his eye: “Simply order with your smartphone and it’ll arrive in as little as 30 minutes!”

Intrigued, Ahiru Neko took a gander at the website, and learned that 7-Eleven has started a service called “Net Conbini” in Tokyo, Hokkaido, and Hiroshima. It’s a delivery service where they’ll bring whatever you order to your home or office!

As you know, we at SoraNews24 are big fans of convenience store food, and we’ve even conducted extremely professional tests to determine which ones sell the best spam rice balls, curry bread, and other foods, so Ahiru Neko was pleased to learn of this. “Perfect! Let’s try it!” he said, and he whipped out his smart phone to scan the QR code and place an order.

Sadly, they must have been very busy, because his order was expected to take about an hour…even though the closest 7-Eleven was only five minutes away on foot. Never one to give up easily, he tried selecting a different delivery time, and to his surprise the time it would take dropped to just 15 minutes. Ahiru Neko supposed that the time it takes for them to deliver probably depends on how busy the shop is at the time of ordering.

It’s also worth noting that in order to get delivery, you have to order more than 1,000 yen (US$9.70) worth of stuff, and the delivery fee costs between 110 to 550 yen, depending on the time of the order, apparently.

▼ Also, they do warn you that the delivery could be later or earlier than the projected time depending on how long it takes to prepare your order and the conditions of delivery.

There is a surprising amount of things available from Net Conbini; in fact, just about anything you can get from 7-Eleven you can get through the delivery service, except for cigarettes, postcards, prepaid QUO cards, magazines, and other flammable objects. Naturally, even non-7-Eleven brand items are offered.

Of course, what Ahiru Neko needed was food, and as you can see, pretty much every category of food was available for delivery.

▼ Rice, bread, noodles/pasta, salad/vegetables, sweets, ice cream, and fast food

However, the prices on Net Conbini are a little higher than what you would pay at the store. For example, the Seven Premium Gold Hamburger Steak is usually 368 yen in the store, but online it was 441 yen. Both prices are without tax added, so sales tax isn’t what makes the difference, either. This is, however, the same as ordering through delivery apps like Uber Eats, so Ahiru Neko wasn’t too concerned and filled up his cart with all his favorite foods.

In the end, his bill was 1,822 yen, plus a delivery fee of 330 yen, totaling at 2,302 yen with tax. You can choose to pay with a credit card or with cash on delivery.

Once your order is in, you get notified via text of your delivery status. With his order placed, Ahiru Neko curled up with his legs underneath his kotatsu and began to ponder where his life was headed from there, until finally he heard the uplifting tones of his doorbell. 7-Eleven was here!!

Wow, it was like Ahiru Neko had a personal assistant bring him food from a convenience store. Honestly, he felt kind of bad, since it was just five minutes away and the only reason he didn’t go himself was because it was cold….

Well anyway, let’s see what he got!

The first item was the new Rice Omelet Rice Ball. It’s boasted to have a whole tomato’s worth of lycopene in it, and was actually the same price online as it is in-store, 140 yen.

He also ordered the aforementioned Seven Premium Gold Hamburger Steak, which is a favorite of his, for 441 yen.

You can order frozen foods too, like the Seven Premium Grilled Chicken (261 yen).

Even the pre-cooked hot snacks can be delivered! One Nana Chicken is 225 yen.

Ahiru Neko also ordered some non-7-Eleven products, like this can of Monster energy drink (229 yen)…

…and some cup noodles. They had it nicely laid out on the website so that you could tell which varieties were new. This “Fatty Back Pork Stock Soy Sauce Broth Ramen” (258 yen) was a newer variety!

Finally, he also stocked up on tissues (268 yen).

Altogether, that cost 2,302 yen, which is, frankly, a little bit expensive. But if you consider the fact that most grocery store delivery options don’t include same-day delivery, it’s a reasonable price to pay. Since there are likely people who can’t go out to the supermarket even if they want to, this is a great service for 7-Eleven to offer. Ahiru Neko himself has a baby, so there are days when he’ll be grateful for this kind of service as well.

But since his whole reason for ordering today was simply because he didn’t want to go out in the cold, he couldn’t help but feel a little foolish for using his money so wantonly. For those who don’t have a 7-Eleven nearby, though, this could be a very useful service!

Photos © SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]