Spurred by the success of the online ordering/curbside pickup program — and customers’ calls for more locations during the pandemic — commissary officials have fast-tracked the rollout to reach all stateside commissaries by the end of the year.
The Click2Go program will expand to overseas stores soon thereafter, according to Defense Commissary Agency officials. There are 236 commissaries in the U.S. and in 13 countries.
“I envision it will enable us to eventually offer delivery — where our patrons can enjoy their hard-earned benefit from the comfort of their homes or barracks,” said DeCA director and CEO Bill Moore, in an announcement.
Click2Go has been rolled out to 11 commissaries over two years.
Officials have also made improvements to their e-commerce platform, to include adding online payment capability and more product information. There are improved navigation and search functions, featured sales and promotions, and upgraded mobile-friendly options such as the ability to see order history for ease in re-ordering products.
“Perhaps the most significant enhancement is online payment,” said Moore, in the announcement. “You place your order and pay online, and then it’s simply a matter of driving up to the curbside delivery area of your commissary to have your groceries loaded into your vehicle — that’s a streamlined process our customers expect in this information age.”
Online grocery shopping across the country escalated to previously unexpected rates since the COVID-19 pandemic began, officials said.
Moore said the Click2Go rollout has been long anticipated by customers. “I can assure you that we’re working as hard as we can to make this happen as quickly as possible,” he said, noting that the rollout schedule will be available on the website and updated “as best we can.”
“We’ve learned a lot about what our customers want during our initial 11-store rollout the past two years,” Moore said, and the improvements in their technology will enable them to provide what customers expect in today’s retail environment. “We’re going to deliver this great service to all commissaries as quickly as possible.”
Less than a year ago, commissary officials said they expect the number of Click2Go sites to grow to 60 in the next two years. That was before Bill Moore took over the helm of the agency in August. Moore said he wasn’t satisfied with the low number of stores with Click2Go capability, and he was looking at options to get that service at more locations more quickly. “I want to dramatically increase the number of stores with the service,” Moore said last fall. “I am driven on getting e-commerce to more locations, and I’m hoping we can get a lot more in a very near-term approach.”
The service is available at Fort Belvoir, Fort Eustis, Fort Lee, Oceana Naval Air Station and Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina; Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey; Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota; and Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Florida.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
