How To Use Smiths and Kroger ClickList for Budget-Savvy and Coupon Shoppers

Finally! A grocery pick-up service for the budget-savvy and the couponers in this great world! This is the service to use for those who are serious about saving grocery money, who like quality and who desire convenience. I fit into all of those categories, plus I want my cake and want to eat it too. That leads me to tell you about how I finally tried Smiths ClickList. Smiths is my local Kroger grocery store. 

I have tried it twice now and both times were awesome! I was able to shop online for the first time, while taking advantage of my coupons, stacking coupon savings and grocery shopping app rebates, along with the store sales and discounts. 

This is huge for me! 

Why is this so huge? 

Well, I have tried other stores’ grocery pickup service. To be honest, I loved it! But my budget didn’t. I could only get the items they had on sale or regular price. I could not use coupons. But the ease of clicking around online for a few minutes, driving up to the pickup spot, staying in my car with my kids still buckled and having my groceries loaded into my car was the stuff busy moms are made of. 

However, I was frustrated that I couldn’t get the rock bottom prices. 

I have seen the advertisements for Smiths ClickList multiple times in the store as my Kroger sister store is the main grocery store we shop at. But because of my former experience of sacrificing budget, I wasn’t eager to try it. 

I have been asked by friends and family if I have tried it yet and I had to say, “no.” So I decided to put an end to the ignorance and give it a whirl. 

The first thing I did was research if I could use coupons. The answer is a resounding YES! 

The digital coupons uploaded to your Fresh Values card are going to be the easiest as they are automatic. Honestly, most of the coupons here are the same ones you can print from different sources online or find in the newspaper. So most of your manufacturer coupons will be the same, so no need to clip most coupons anyway (unless you are stocking up). 

You can also use paper coupons. The Smiths ClickList site does warn that it will take longer to checkout with paper coupons, but pretty much all of the paper coupons I have used have been the ones Smiths and Kroger mail to me. I can’t pass up those awesome coupons! Even though they warn it will take longer to checkout, it has really meant I sit in my car for another 5 minutes while they take them inside and scan them. For me, I can sit and rest for 5 mins and save $20 with my paper coupons. So the “extra time” was not an issue for me at all as I would be in line standing and waiting and holding up the line for those 5-minutes inside instead, so this was far more convenient than using the coupons in-store. 

Before I dive into the specifics, I wanted to share the first video experience with you. I basically went blindly into the Smiths ClickList site and added items to my cart that were on sale and that had a digital coupon. I also ordered an item that was on sale and one that I had a paper coupon from the newspaper to test it out. It was a small order as I did it in just a few minutes to give it a whirl before diving in with a full coupon, online shopping trip. 

Here’s that video on my first experience:

How does the Smiths and Kroger ClickList work? 

Here’s how it worked. I went online and ordered the groceries we regularly buy. For us, it is things like milk (milk substitute in the form of Almond Milk), fresh produce, the sale items that week that we actually would buy, diapers, toilet paper, any other household needs, eggs, etc. That is the basic short list of items we buy regularly. Between our pantry staples purchased in bulk and our meats purchased in bulk, and our cheese and bread purchased in bulk when on a low sale price (and then frozen)we pretty much just purchase this short list of fresh items each week.  

This is a sponsored post through Smiths brand of Kroger stores. The information we share is intended to be of value as we will only talk about things that we truly believe in and give our honest experience and opinions on. 

I did a video showing the process from beginning to end. It took me 20-minutes to “shop” but that was with me talking a ton and demonstrating how to shop on the Smiths ClickList site and how I used grocery shopping lists and my coupons to get the best deals! It probably would have taken me 10-15 minutes tops to “shop.” 

Watch the video on how I shopped on the Smiths website (Kroger sister store). 

This is what I used:

• Smiths or Kroger downloadable digital coupons
• Paper coupons from the mail from Smiths/Kroger
• Paper coupons from the newspaper
• Printable coupons found HERE
• Grocery List for Smiths and other Kroger stores across the country that puts all of the ad items in a shopping list and tells you when there is a coupon
• Ibotta App to get a few dollars cash back on my purchases
• Checkout51 App to get a couple of dollars back on my purchases

That was the first EASY and FUN shopping part! I got to sip my coffee, stick to my list and not by anything more (or less) but exactly what I needed. I didn’t have to fight with kids, listen to kids whine and complain, push through the crowds and meander down the aisles aimlessly. 

It was done and done FAST! 

The next step is waiting for my pickup time! It looks like you can pickup the same day, but at least 4-5 hours later. You can watch this video on my grocery pickup experience and the final result. I learned a couple of new things the second time around:

The pickup process was super slick! I had a fussy baby, which would be the exact reason I wouldn’t go shopping or if I had too, it would be very frustrating for everyone. You can even hear him in the videos! Not only was this amazingly convenient, but I didn’t have to fuss with kids. 

I pulled up, called the number on the sign, they came out, put the groceries in my van, I handed them my coupons, they answered a few questions, I paid and I was done! 

Here’s some things that I either learned I should do differently or that I am not a big fan of:

$4.95 fee – I understand why they have to do this (they have dedicated employees that shop for you) and I know I saved way more than $4.95 by not walking into the grocery store by myself, let alone with my kids. However, I just don’t like to pay fees. I avoid the ATM like the plague because of the fees. This process was worth-it on my busy days and days with kids, but I still just don’t like paying fees. Note that I haven’t paid fees yet as I have done this process twice the past two-weeks to test it out and the first three times you use it, there are no fees. This applies to everyone – so enjoy three trips to give it a try for free. 

 They don’t take cash – I am not sure why this isn’t the case on this one, but at the same time, they are trying to hurry and make it a fast process. The guy said that they would have to walk all the way up front to take cash at a register and so it has just become their policy to not take cash. Along those same lines, checks and gift cards are also not accepted at the ClickList pickup. Only Debit and Credit Cards. 

Produce ordering – So I messed this one up! But that’s why I am trying these things and telling you! First, I wasn’t worried about quality. I have been concerned about this from other stores’ grocery pickup, but not Smiths. They have the best produce quality. I also saw a ClickList clerk shopping from a list once when I was inside the store a few months ago. She was being very meticulous about what she selected to find the absolute best and I was impressed with the time she took to find the best.

But what I wasn’t sure about was the ordering when ordering by the pound. Well, I misjudged how they would handle this.

For example, I wanted one cantaloupe at .29 per lb. and I put the quantity at 5 lbs. as each cantaloupe is about 5 lbs worth since the quantity on the site showed it at $0.29 per lb.

But…as you would suspect…I got 5 cantaloupes!

I did the same thing on the apples. I wanted three pounds, so I put in quantity of 3. I got three apples and the receipt shows these three apples weighing just over a pound.

The bananas were correct as they were priced differently on the site. They showed “about” $0.28 each when weighed at $0.55 per lb.

So I ordered 7 bananas. I got 7 bananas. So either I am doing something wrong, or this could be a little clearer. After talking to the ClickList clerks, in the notes section on each item, you could put the quantity at “1” and then say “3 lbs. worth” or “around a 5 lb. cantaloupe” or whatever. Honestly, it wasn’t that big of a deal to me and made me giggle that I had WAY too much cantaloupe and too little apples. But we will adjust as we love cantaloupe! 

Mega Event Sales not indicated on ClickList site. First, you will wan to get the shopping lists for your stores and your area HERE. The sales and ad prices were certainly listed on the site, except the mega event prices.  For example, the Nature’s Path cereal is one of our favorites. It shows the regular price of $2.99 on the ClickList site.

But they are actually an extra $1 off when you buy 5 participating items from hundreds throughout the store.

I wouldn’t have known this if I hadn’t done my research. So this is savings that could be missed. In the meantime, I have an easy solution for you…just use the grocery shopping lists that we have had on our site for years. These lists put the entire grocery store ad into a list and show any coupons available. This is what I used to “shop” to make sure I am taking advantage of all of those sales (see the online shopping video above and the link to the grocery lists across the country HERE). 

Here’s a picture of the final result – $101 worth of groceries. My online cart total was $66. After Mega Event discounts and digital coupons, my total dropped to $52. After my paper coupons, my final total was $37. 

In Conclusion…..

There you have it! I hope that between my written experience and the several videos, that you have a thorough understanding of the Smiths ClickList program (same as Kroger). 

I personally love it and I am planning to use this when I have shopping that needs to get done and my kids are with me. I actually find grocery shopping very relaxing and therapeutic WHEN MY KIDS are not with me. When I am by myself or with Alex. But since most of the time, they are, this was awesome, especially because baby was crying when I was home – which would have been the time I would have still been in the store. 

In the end, my order totaled $66 before the Mega Event discounts were applied. When I arrived, my order was $52 ($58 with tax) after the Mega Event of $1 was taken off for each item. After giving them my paper coupons, my total dropped to $37. And I had two packs of diapers and toilet paper that would have nearly totaled that alone! So I was so very, very pleased with the trip all around and feel like a queen having someone else shop for me. I know that I saved much more money over other grocery pickup services because I could take advantage of the sales and coupons. 

It was so slick and easy to use the coupons and get the deals (especially with the tips I shared above). It’s crazy just how “convenient” this whole process was, but to get this convenience, I didn’t have to sacrifice my budget! 

Have you tried Kroger or Smiths ClickList yet? I would love to hear about your experience! 

Don’t forget, your first three trips are free! 

Please note, we also had a giveaway for gift cards when we first posted this article. The winners were randomly drawn from a third party website. 

Here are those winners:

Melissa – melissa.pahl@ 

D. Williams – be.healthy.dwilliams@

This is a sponsored post written on behalf of us for Smiths ClickList, however the experience, opinions, and thoughts are 100% our own. We strive to provide helpful information for our readers under all circumstances and posts.