I started online grocery shopping when my eldest son was at school, youngest at nursery & I had a baby at home. Trying to get everyone to the right place at the right time & get a baby to nap around it all was hard enough without having to go shopping for groceries. Online grocery shopping took the stress of shopping away and I've used it ever since! Here are my tips.
I use Tesco for my weekly online
shop (having tried 2 other leading supermarkets where I encountered various problems). I find it so much easier than dragging children around a supermarket. My tips are all specific to Tesco. You can
save on delivery by opting for Super Saver Delivery. You pay for 3
or 6 months in advance but it then works out to about £2.50 per delivery, which I
feel is very worth it for not having to venture out myself. Other advantages
are that they deliver directly to your door so you don't
have to carry lots of shopping up stairs if you live in a flat above ground level. They also take it to wherever you want in your home (such as the kitchen) but are happy for you to unload on the doorstep if you prefer.
There are 1 hour delivery
slots & you can change your order up to 11.45pm the night before
delivery. I normally book my slot a few days before to secure it then do my
actual shop the evening before delivery. To secure the slot you just need to
add something to your basket & checkout. You can always remove this item
when you do your actual shop if you don't want it - just something to secure
the delivery slot.
If there are any substitutions (when the groceries are delivered) because what you ordered is
out of stock, they clearly list them at the top of the receipt & you can
either accept it or send it back with the delivery person if you don't want it.
They'll refund it there & then if you do. The substitutions can work in
your favour because they have to give you better quality if they're out of
stock, so if you order Tesco Value bread for example & it's out of stock,
you will get a nicer quality bread instead & they'll only charge you for
what you ordered. They also have to honour your quantity, so if the size you
ordered is out of stock they'll give you a bigger pack instead & again only
charge you for what you ordered. This is where online is better than going to
the shop as you have to buy what's available!
Delivery drivers will also take away
old carrier bags for recycling. If there are any problems with anything in the
order, e.g. Broken egg in the egg box, simply call Tesco & they'll refund
the total cost of the item even if most of it is still useable.
I have
local shops close by so I tend to get my own fruit & vegetables from the
greengrocers as it's cheaper, but whenever I've ordered them from Tesco they've been
fine.
You have to spend £40 minimum to qualify for super saver delivery but
that's fairly easy to do. Another benefit of super saver delivery is that you
can have as many deliveries as you want so I sometimes get 2 deliveries in one
week if we've got family coming to stay as it saves me thinking about
everything we need in one go.
I'd highly recommend online grocery shopping, especially to a fellow busy parent! After all, think of all the time you can spend doing useful stuff at home while someone else does your shopping for you. All you need to do is be at home to receive the goods! Perfect time-saving shopping!
