Sometimes goofy business models will pop into my head. Sometimes, I will even blog about them. The one I was thinking about driving home from work today might be the dumbest idea of them all so why not jot it down for everyone to laugh at?

Which Wich is an amazing sandwich chain with an interesting ordering method. When you walk inside the store you go up to a side counter and pick up a sandwich bag. On that sandwich bag is basically your directions for the creation of your sandwich. Just as if you were filling out a multiple choice test, you darken in bubbles to indicate how you want your sandwich made. You indicate your bread type, size of sandwich, toasted/not toasted preference, cheese, sauces, etc. You then take your bag up to the main counter to an employee and they make the sandwich for you. The filled out bag says it all, there is no need for talking or any unnecessary opportunities to waste time.

This is what a Which Wich bag looks like.

As the rain poured down during my drive home I thought to myself how I hate running across parking lots to enter and exit grocery stores, especially when the weather is less than ideal. What if there was an option where someone else would do all of your shopping for you while you sat in your car and listened to the radio or talked on the phone? Besides missing out on bad weather you would also save yourself the frustration of finding items in the store, the annoyance of packed aisles, and the agony of standing in a checkout line. I like to call my idea “RESERved Grocery Shopping.” (Reser being my last name of course).

With RESERved Grocery Shopping all you would do is fill out a paper brown grocery bag with your desired items. Just like with Which Wich you would only need to fill in bubbles to designate your choices. Since the ordering medium is a paper grocery bag there will be plenty of room to put most of the store’s inventory on that bag.

On the day you need to do your shopping you simply take ten minutes to fill in your grocery sack* and then get in your vehicle. You drive to the store and park in one of the designated RESERved Grocery Shopping parking spots and a store employee promptly greets you. Upon giving the employee your bag, he/she enters back into the store and works as quickly as possible to fill your order while you sit in the comfort of your car. When the employee has done your shopping for you, he/she comes back out to the parking lot to place your grocery bags in your car. You then pay your bill and tip at your discretion.

Now my suggestion is for a new chain of grocery stores to open up that specializes solely in RESERved Grocery Shopping. However, I am not ruling out the option that existing supermarkets can offer this service as well. They would just need to designate parking spots for the RGS customers and make sure their professional employee shoppers have easy access to supermarket items and an exclusive checkout lane so they don’t have to wait in line with the masses who are doing traditional shopping.

In order for RESERved Grocery Shopping to work, there would need to be some simplifying. We all know there are about 500 different brands and types of bread. On the ordering bag, you would probably only get the option of five different kinds (wheat, white, rye, etc) with a couple different brands (i.e. generic or Pepperidge Farm). Also, the variety of products offered won’t be as vast either. Rest assured, you will be able to select all the major essentials such as meat, milk, ice cream, mac and cheese, fruits, vegetables, toilet paper, etc. However, if you were looking for a bubble to fill in for strawberry flavored malt balls you might be out of luck.

But you aren’t utilizing RESERved Grocery Shopping for endless choices. You are using it for convenience and speed. The employees will be trained to quickly analyze your order bag and obtain your items in under 30 minutes. Many orders will only take 10 minutes. RGS would be completely revolutionary and a game changer in the supermarket industry. If you would like to take a chance on this idea and make me a millionaire, please contact me. I would love to chat. Don’t Blink.

* – A supermarket chain would market RGS by aggressively entering all neighborhoods possible and leaving an order bag on the porch of each house to get customers their first bag. Then, whenever they stop by the store they will be replenished with new bags for their future orders.