But a grocery store? They’re not set up for this thing.
Since the pandemic (4 years), nearly every grocery store is now set up to handle online ordering, picking, and either shipping or on-site pickup. Even small stores that never had online ordering had to adapt to offer it in order to stay relevant.
But do you think these retail stores are inundated with online orders? Even in a large store like Walmart, I'm often the only person at the pick-up spot, even when their pick-up slot is "full" for that hour.
The implementation for these stores to set up the actual website and backend for online ordering was a much larger task, and there were never any extra fees associated with them doing that; modernizing their business does have a cost, but it also generates more revenue (and profits) at the same time.
And being they’re a few cities over
What does being a few cities over have to do with their cost of doing business? They are in a more populated area, and have a chain of stores, owned by the largest grocery company in the country. The fact that their online shop brings them business they'd never have otherwise, customers are doing them a favour by ordering online.
Shipping costs, which would apply to local and out of town customers, would only differ in the time it takes to make the delivery.
it’s not incredibly unreasonable to have to pay for someone to pick it, consume a box, consume filler material, consume tape, print a label, and then mail it.
I order stuff online all the time. Regardless of whether a place has a storefront or not, I've never seen excessive fees like this one. Boxes? Tape? Labels? Literally the cost of running a business, just like printing on paper receipts at a checkout or providing bags or installing security systems...
I can only accept your argument if you can show that companies who aren't charging extra fees would be losing money through their online ordering system.
The fact is, grocery stores in Canada, despite offering online order since at least the pandemic, are constantly setting profit records. In the US, online grocery store market has grown significantly and is a key driver in the industry's growth.
We are not small retail businesses who are asking for these extra fees, so your argument makes even less sense.