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Online grocery shopping

(112 Posts)
annsixty Sun 13-Aug-17 09:54:44

I have reluctantly decided that I must start having my groceries delivered. Most of my other needs are catered for online but I have resisted grocery so far to keep some independence, growing old is a b....r.
Are any of the supermarkets better than others?
Living where I do I will have a wide choice.
Does one tip the delivery man or not?
Do they leave it at the door or provide bags which are paid for?
I hope someone can give me pointers.

AmeliaAshton Mon 14-Aug-17 11:03:05

I use Tesco Asda and Sainsbury's but Asda the most. Occasionally an item is missing but you get refunded. My kitchen is a li g way from my front door and they always take it through. I don't recommend fresh items but tinned packet or frozen or bulky heavy items it's worth that £1 deli dry fee. Why not ease yourself into home delivery gently by doing heavy stuff only and still doing lighter stuff and hunting for bargains in store your self. Then you don't have to worry about getting large heavy items home your self. X

Legs55 Mon 14-Aug-17 11:11:47

I use Tesco, started when I couldn't drive (thanks DVLA) as it saved my DD having to come & take me shopping. Useful for a monthly shop of heavy items, I still use it now although I can use my car again. Great for heavy & bulky items like cat litter, cat food, tins, fruit juices etc. I only buy packs of fresh chicken breasts & never fruit & veg. I am lucky that I have a good local shop & he delivers free, their fruit & veg is locally grown & good quality, I can also order meat there. I am lucky that we have butchers & greengrocers who sell locally produced where possible.

I select the cheapest delivery slots, no bags, I have a small kitchen so I meet the driver at the door as I have plenty of hessian bags, it is only a short walk into my kitchen & I can unpack at leisure. I also refuse substitutes, I'd rather be without than get something unsuitable. I find it great as you can keep a track of your spending as you order making it easier to stick to your budget.

Not sure which other supermarkets deliver as I live in a rural area, haven't used Iceland as shop is difficult to get to in my nearest Town, why can't they do on-line where I live? My advice, give it a try, try as many as you can. I hate food shopping grin

mags1234 Mon 14-Aug-17 11:38:55

I'd start with the website u find easiest. Order all your bulky and heavy stuff, if you have storage space u can bulk order toilet rolls, washing powder etc, so u need less deliveries. Then I'd add a small order of meat and fresh fruit etc to see the quality. Add in some long life milk etc, a few frozen foods. And voila, u can see how it goes. You can always pop out for a few fresh items if u enjoy meeting people and selecting things.try it!

schnackie Mon 14-Aug-17 11:42:25

This has been a most informative thread! I am fortunate to live a 5 min walk from Aldi and do most of my shopping there, but cannot carry heavy bags and live on 2nd floor so have many steps to walk up. I am going to start doing this once a month for heavy/bulky items! Thanks Gransnetters x

grandadoscar Mon 14-Aug-17 11:45:18

hi,

waitrose would win out on customer service. not always the cheapest but they do have lots of offers. the online tool does allow you to fiddle around with what you get to take most advantage of offers etc so you can look at the monetary effect (tricky to do in store unless you area real maths wiz). Of course online security applies to any online shopping equally.
Substitutions is something to keep an eye on, with lots of supermarkets you can elect to have them substitute a similar item in if they do not have the item you picked in stock. You may or may not want to do that.
With waitrose I had a couple of instances where an item was not put in a bag, I phone up and they just refunded me back the money. Another issue was when the delivery person was with me and we saw ( I think it was a dozen eggs), some were broken. They agreed to refund me back the cost of these, the driver said you may as well have the rest as they will only get thrown away.
Do make sure you are in when they come . some supermarkets are pretty difficult about this and will not give back money if they cannot deliver to you.

Lupatria Mon 14-Aug-17 11:49:23

i do online supermarket buying once every four weeks [when my state pension gets into my bank account].
i buy from asda and tesco every time - asda sells things that tesco doesn't and vice versa. i also buy from sainsburys now and again.
i find it convenient and their pickers usually pick the things that i would. i don't have substitutions as i don't want them.
i have everything delivered in bags [i recycle these as rubbish bags and we find them useful in all sorts of ways] and we're charged 40p for how ever many bags we have.
the delivery guys deliver to the door and we empty their crates there and then - mr tesco [as i call him] does offer to bring the crates into the kitchen but as i've got grandaughters to help with the putting away it's all piled up in the hall and on the stairs.
i've been shopping this way for several years now and only a couple of times have i had a bad experience. most of the delivery guys are friendly and like to pass the time of day -had all sorts of conversations about all sorts of things!
i HATE supermarket shopping with a passion - if i have to go to one then i'll use one of their shopping buggy things - so being able to shop online is fantastic.
actually today i've got mr sainsburys coming between 1 and 2, mr asda coming between 2 and 3 and mr tesco coming between 3 and 4 ............... and that's most of the shopping done for the next four weeks!
and i think i've got an amazon order coming today as well.
i've got to do a "freezer audit" this week and see what meat and frozen vegetables i've got - i might be having mr iceland coming later in the week. although my daughter and i usually get our meat from aldi - lovely meat they do but not online ......... yet.
unfortunately morrisons is too far from me to deliver and i've never tried waitrose [although they do deliver in my area].
online shopping is the best!!

westieyaya Mon 14-Aug-17 11:52:16

I opt for what I find is the best of both worlds. I shop, Waitrose delivers, so I don't have to carry heavy bags from my car to my flat. With regard to efficient online shopping when I couldn't drive I found Tesco was better than Sainsbury's or Waitrose for fresher produce and less substitutions/ mistakes - though can't stand actual Tesco shopping!

Kacee Mon 14-Aug-17 12:07:06

Wish M&S did home delivery for food.

Outtawork Mon 14-Aug-17 12:11:48

l too prefer online shopping with tesco, l pay £30 for the whole year for midweek deliveries, as there is only me, l share my shopping with a neighbour to meet the £40 limit.

kitnsimon Mon 14-Aug-17 12:12:57

Ocado is by far the best online supermarket. It has a wide choice of excellent produce. Never send substitutions
And you choose a two hour delivery slot to suit yourself.
I have tried Tesco, Sainsbury, Waitrose and Asda too, none come up to the standard of Ocado.

GrannieAnnie2 Mon 14-Aug-17 12:26:19

Morrisons all the way! They deliver from warehouses rather than stores, so your goods have not been 'handled' by Jo Public and also they are brilliantly packaged and fresher.

I have found that there are hardly ever any substitutes or items out of stock which seemed to happen with other retailers.

Take time to find your way around the site and make the best use of the offers. You honestly won't look back.

vickya Mon 14-Aug-17 12:39:42

I alternate at present between Tescos and Morrisons. Each has things I like. Some Morrisons delivery slots are 1p at the moment! I have the tescos 6 monthly delivery deal and that covers tescos direct and clothing too. If there is a problem with either, short dates or wrong item or not good I can reject the item at the door or if i don't see the date until I unpack i email and always get a refund and am told to keep the item. As you order things they keep a list of favourites which you can look at to make it easier and quicker to order next time. And one supermarket will import the list of favourites from the other!

Craftycat Mon 14-Aug-17 13:01:42

When I broke the bones in my foot last year & could not drive for 8 weeks I used Sainsbury's delivery service. The delivery men were so friendly & helpful & carried it all through to the kitchen for me. I didn't have any issues with daft substitutions TBH but I must admit I did not enjoy having things delivered. I actually like food shopping & often decide what I am going to buy when see what is on offer that week. Plus sometimes you just fancy making something for dinner for which you do not have ingredients in larder. I am not a fan of Tesco or Morrison's as I find their sell by dates very short & their food not such good quality by & large. I usually do my main shop in Sainsbury's anyway & top up in Waitrose as it is nearest shop to home.
I would not shop online by choice but it was useful while I could not drive to shops so can see the benefits.
My DiL has a big delivery every week to save taking 3 children round the shops but still goes to other shops several times a week to top up when older 2 are at school & I can see it benefits for working mums too but not for me yet.

allule Mon 14-Aug-17 13:10:01

I second MawBroon......Ocado every time, and I've tried most of them.
Much the best use by dates, and everything listed in order on you receipt to remind you.
They do luxury items, but also have excellent offers, and do price check with Tesco (I got a voucher last week for 7p!)
Very efficient and helpful deliveries.
Very good website, which works well once you have used it a few times, suggesting an instant shop.
I enjoy reading other customers' reviews
If you want to donate to food banks, they will double your donation.
They have solved carrier bag problem by charging 5p each, and refunding it when you return them for recycling.

Online shopping generally also suits me...I can go and check what I have in the cupboard as I am doing my order, and then like having everything sorted into appropriate bags for freezer, fridge and cupboard.

keffie Mon 14-Aug-17 13:22:16

I hated online delivery for food shopping until Morrison's came along, who incidently use Ocado for delivery.

I had used Tescos once and that had been enough. The experoence was appalling.

When Morrison's went online as it is also my local store and I got emails from them I decided to give them a try as the details of there services looked far better than those with the other supermarkets.

Morrison's had done alot of research and had looked at solving the issues that were seen as problematical of other supermarkets. I was sold.

Morrison's have separate warehouses so they do NOT pick off the shop floor. When you order on the online store you know if an item is in stock or not so you will get what you order and not stupid replacements.

They also started the cheaper deliveries with the structured delivery pricing so other supermarkets had to follow suit.

I pay £60 for a years delivery pass and as long as I order £40 of shopping each time (Not hard today) I can have my shopping delivered everyday of the week if I was inclined. You can get half yearly shopping passes too. I also get pre order for Christmas in September too which I can get edit the order up until 2 days before delivery to add additional.

My own personal choice is I wouldn't use anyone other than Morrison's. Hope that helps.

Mercedes55 Mon 14-Aug-17 13:25:48

I've been using Tesco since they started doing home delivery. Never really had any issues with their food apart from the use by dates sometimes not being long enough. I don't like how Tesco have changed all the prices and the slots and although I don't mind paying for the bags I tend to forget to hand them back to the driver so end up with tons of them under the kitchen sink.

The last few months I have started doing the 'click and collect' which actually works out really well for us. I place an order every 2wks and get a 2hr delivery slot which I like as it means I don't have to sit at home waiting for the door bell to ring. Obviously it still means you need to have access to a car to do that, but it's still a lot easier than trawling around a huge store and it's free too!

sweetcakes Mon 14-Aug-17 13:31:33

I've tried them all order of preference = Tesco because I can leave messages for the pickers about the things I want such as a long dates on fresh stuff. closely followed by orcado and waitrose, sainsbury's but not Asda ever. Only had one disastrous Christmas delivery from Tesco and the poor driver was nearly in tears learnt my lesson all my non perishable shopping I get the previous month and only fresh a couple of days before so if something is out of stock I can send Hubby out for it.

Sheilasue Mon 14-Aug-17 14:39:08

I have Waitrose deliver my bulky bits. I still like to go to Tesco for a few bits tho.

Elrel Mon 14-Aug-17 14:47:40

No loyalty, I use Tesco, Sainsbury's, and Ocado! However for straightforward everyday items I use Iceland. I don't drive so go to the shop, spend £20 minimum and get free delivery.

Elrel Mon 14-Aug-17 14:50:44

Iceland delivery slots are 2 hours, usually when you choose except on Fridays which is their busiest day.

JanT8 Mon 14-Aug-17 15:16:34

Ocado are excellent and give better dates than most others. As has already been mentioned , they do price-match and very rarely substitute.
Still like Aldi for a lot of tinned, dried goods, and also dishwasher stuff.

Charleygirl Mon 14-Aug-17 15:27:12

If the Morrison driver is eg 20 minutes early, he must ring you to ask if it is convenient to come or he is sacked! A few days after each delivery I am sent on line a satisfaction 1 minute survey on the driver and 6 is the max and I never give below 5 because I am well aware that they hire and fire very quickly. I find the drivers very friendly and helpful.

I think that delivering to my house is a breath of fresh air as I live in a cul de sac, simple parking and yards to my front door, not a step in sight.

It is a 1 hour delivery slot and I frequently receive early deliveries. You should check your bill quickly so that if there are any short use by dates you can hand them to the driver and the amount is deducted from your bill immediately.

The one irritating thing for me is the number of bags used and sometimes it may be a tube of toothpaste in one bag! I frequently end up with at least 12 bags but I use them as kitchen bin liners and any extra go back the next delivery and I receive 5p per bag.

When I first order I will order what I fancy but a few days later I will look over the list and prune it. I have no problems spending £40- I buy semi skimmed long life milk , 6 cartons x3 and cat litter, the cost mounts and they are heavy.

A friend of mine ordered what she thought was 1lb of grapes from Sainsburys but one grape arrived!

Last year I ordered from Sainsburys, 11 items were missing. When I rang to inquire, I was told that the picker had a nervous breakdown. I would have thought that somebody else would have taken over or rung me to say sorry we cannot deliver today because. I was sent a £15 voucher but it was one mistake too many.

Lilyflower Mon 14-Aug-17 15:33:22

I use Tesco's regularly. Their charge is going up to £72 per annum but they are going to add same-day delivery for no extra charge for that until January. For that price you get 'free' delivery for goods over £40.

I always ask the drivers to bring the goods into the kitchen and they do so very politely. They will take back any substituted items without demur and the money is refunded. Their customer service line is excellent. I am very pleased with them and can recommend them without hesitation.

I also use Waitrose, Ocado and Sainsbury's but paying a very low charge for a late delivery. They are all very good too.

Daisyboots Mon 14-Aug-17 15:40:32

I cant do online shopping here in Portugal as they only deliver in the cities. But I do online shopping for my disabled son in England. I use Iceland because it is free over £35 and l can pay with PayPal. Only downside is I cant get everything so will have a look at Ocado and Tescos as some of you have recommended them

callgirl1 Mon 14-Aug-17 16:05:18

I used Asda for years, but then they failed to deliver my Christmas 2015 order on Dec 21st, and then denying that I`d actually placed an order. They promised faithfully that it would be delivered on Christmas Eve, but it didn`t come, at the very last minute my youngest son and his wife nipped out and got me some fruit and veg, luckily I`d bought the turkey a couple of weeks earlier, but we had to do without all the fancy little extras that year. Since then, I`ve only used Tesco, they`re a tad dearer, but their drivers are always cheerful and friendly, plus helpful.