Online Food Shopping - Do/don't you?

[Gravy Queen]

How do you do your weekly/monthly food shop?

I do mine online from a big supermercado we have here called Tesco. I just find it so easy to do my shopping this way, and especially at Christmas when I get a BIG shop!

For me, its just a better way to shop for food (we are a family of 4). My days of dragging 2 kids round the supermarket after work are well and truly over. I was so relieved when online shopping started up, so I have been doing it for many years now.

I do still pop into the local store, especially if I decide maybe to cook something in particular at the last minute, or if I just fancy a mooch around, but the main stuff is all shopped for online.

Anyone else do this? I find its quite a good way of budgeting too, less distraction and you don't miss out on offers, they are all online. I always write a list, plan my meals and then away I go. Click click shop.

This leaves more time to do more important things like proper shopping for gorgeous things for me.

 

[Katie H]

If "online," then, are the goods delivered to you or do you go to a special "online shoppers" area of the business to pick up and pay?

We have a store here in the U.S. called Sam's that has a service called Click 'n' Pull, whereby shoppers choose their items online, they're collected by store personnel and placed in a special Click 'n' Pull holding area for patrons to pick up and pay for at the service desk.

I've been doing this for quite a while and am very pleased with the convenience, especially during the holidays when the store is jam-packed with shoppers and the check-out lines are to the moon. Click 'n' Pull customers check out at the service desk. No lines. Yeah!

The only other online shopping I'm aware of is at sites that have an item/ingredient that I can't get in my area, which is often because we live in a very, very rural area. The nearest large city is about 2 1/2 hours away.

As for "regular" food/grocery shopping, I do ours on Tuesday, which is the day some of our area markets offers a 5% "senior" discount on purchases. Obviously since we are eligible for such a discount we don't have any children at home to drag through the market. Those days are long gone.

 

[taxlady]

I don't do that. I should check into it again. When I last looked, not many stores around here did it and most of those that did charged more than I consider a reasonable delivery fee. I also like to look at my produce before buying it and for sure the few green grocers out here don't have online shopping.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I used to buy our groceries online many years ago through a service called "Simon Delivers" (since sold to another company). I had occasional problems with them. For instance, sometimes they ran out certain items, or the wrong items were delivered, or the produce was less than stellar. If I am in a store, I am very picky about produce. What I found is that when people are shopping for you, they are not as picky. Go figure.

So I don't shop that way anymore.

 

[Katie H]

I should also add to say that the only person I trust with choosing our meats/poultry/fish and produce is "me." I would never consider having someone else make those choices, which would definitely negate online shopping for those items.

However, those items I purchase at Sam's are generally pet-related or name brand packaged, paper products (toilet paper, etc.) or canned goods. Hard to mess those up.

In the summer, produce comes from our large backyard garden. Really easy and convenient to shop there.

 

[Andy M.]

I echo Steve's and Katie's reasons for not using a shopping service.

 

[Gravy Queen]

Sorry should have explained better. By online I mean I shop from Tesco website and its delivered to my home for a small charge. So I sit at home, get on the website, and shop for everything. Must say am very happy with the quality of fresh produce that is picked for me. If I am unhappy, I get an immediate refund, no quibbles. If anything is damaged, instant refund. Happily neither of these things happen very often. I am particularly impressed with the fresh fish and fruit and veg.

I have shopped online with various different supermarkets, I do like to change now and again. I like Tesco best so far and their customer care is brilliant.

 

[Katie H]

Sorry should have explained better. By online I mean I shop from Tesco website and its delivered to my home for a small charge. So I sit at home, get on the website, and shop for everything. Must say am very happy with the quality of fresh produce that is picked for me. If I am unhappy, I get an immediate refund, no quibbles. If anything is damaged, instant refund. Happily neither of these things happen very often. I am particularly impressed with the fresh fish and fruit and veg.

I have shopped online with various different supermarkets, I do like to change now and again. I like Tesco best so far and their customer care is brilliant.

I'm not aware of anything like Tesco in this country but, even for the sake of convenience, I just couldn't bring myself to pay to have someone deliver what I could pick up myself. Even when all our children were at home, we still managed to do our own grocery shopping. I guess, as my husband says, I'm just "cheep, cheep, cheep." Should be spelled "cheap," but the way my husband says it, he sounds just like a little birdie.

Also, I'm a true list shopper and rarely, if ever, stray from my list. Guess that comes from having to stick to a tight budget for so many years raising 8 children. All those tantalizing endcap displays are lost on me, as are the fluorescent-colored signs that shout "sale."

 

[Steve Kroll]

I'm not aware of anything like Tesco in this country...

When I worked in the UK, I shopped at Tescos. The closest comparison over here would be SuperTarget or Walmart. In other words, groceries and household items under one roof.

 

[Katie H]

When I worked in the UK, I shopped at Tescos. The closest comparison over here would be SuperTarget or Walmart. In other words, groceries and household items under one roof.

Okay, gottcha! Now I understand. Then, in that case, there's certainly no way I'd pay to have items from those two, especially Wal-Mart, delivered. We don't have Target near us and I'm not the biggest fan of Wal-Mart. A limited few items from Sam's is the closest I get to buying from a Wal-Mart-related business. Mostly because I've never been a fan of mega stores.

I grew up with mom-and-pop stores and, thankfully, we still have a few around in our region. Excellent service, surprisingly competitive prices and always a smile.

 

[Andy M.]

The Stop and Shop supermarket chain has such a service called Pea Pod.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

The only thing I have ordered on line that might be considered food is single serve coffee K-Cups for my Keurig or coffee pods for my Senseo and my Krups Home Cafe. I have since put my Keurig machne in storage and quit supporting Keurig/Green Mountain Coffee because they are restraining the trade of their licensees and attempting to create a monopoly, and I have a new Perfect Pod Maker to make my own pods for the Home Cafe.

 

[GLC]

I could not, without extraordinary expense, get the majority of my groceries online. I buy relatively little in cans, other than tomatoes. Rice and beans are too cheap to ship. Most of my cart is fresh produce, meat, and seafood. The weekly trip to the grocery is something I enjoy, I know the fishmongers and guys in the premium meat market, and most of my meal decisions are made on the fly, as I see what's available that week and get to pick the pieces I will take home. I drive 15 miles for groceries, because the store of the same chain in my town is pretty miserable, and the other is outstanding. But then, I do almost no other shopping of any kind in stores, other than hardware stores.

I do buy some foods online. I buy cheese in four to six pound blocks from a place in New York, because they're much cheaper than the grocery, even with shipping, and the quality is good.

I buy some things from Amazon that the grocery doesn't carry:

Caned tuna of a quality and sourcing I like.
Bomba rice and an Italian rissoto rice.
More Than Gourmet concentrated stocks and such.
Some spices, although there is now a Penzey's in the area.

I'm on Amazon Prime and get the free two-day shipping, so the gratification isn't too much delayed, and I don't have to think too far ahead on foods.

 

[CraigC]

Even if the store had the quality reputation of Whole Foods, I don't want someone else selecting products for me. Besides, sometimes there may be an item, that up close and personal, inspires a meal on the spot. The item may not be something the store normally carries, like tri-tip! Smellavision doesn't exist yet.

 

[GLC]

Smellavision doesn't exist yet.

It does, but it didn't catch on.

I keep hoping for a comeback, so we can go to a film of that classic mystery, "Murder In the Monkey House."

I think it was just a bad name, SMELL-O-Vision. Should have been Odorama.

 

[Rocklobster]

That sort of service isn't offered around here. I wouldn't use it anyway. I enjoy wandering through food markets, and grocery stores. It's a big part of my weekly entertainment. I look forward to my food shopping trips. Sad, eh?

 

[taxlady]

That sort of service isn't offered around here. I wouldn't use it anyway. I enjoy wandering through food markets, and grocery stores. It's a big part of my weekly entertainment. I look forward to my food shopping trips. Sad, eh?

Nah, normal for a foodie.

 

[Uncle Bob]

It's a big part of my weekly entertainment. I look forward to my food shopping trips. Sad, eh?

Me too!!!

.......and if someone is keeping score....I never have & I never will!

 

[Hammster]

Weekly grocery shopping is done at the market/store. I like being able to handle and pick out the cuts of meat I want and the produce I want. I don't want someone else picking either of those things out for me. Plus, I also think the delivery charge from the grocery stores is a bit much.
2 things I do order online are dried heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo in California and ground dried red chile from Chimayo, New Mexico.

 

[Zhizara]

One of my nearby stores, Rouses, has that service. Since it's difficult for me to get there, I may just try it. They have excellent meats and often have good sale prices. I'm going to try it the next time they have a good sale on things I like. I'm also hoping they might have items I haven't been able to find in my regular stores like Gravy Master.