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How / where you shop and best online supermarket

16 replies

AliceRR · 08/05/2019 12:35

Hope everyone is having a good day

I used to shop mainly at Morrison’s with the occasional trips to Sainsburys or Aldi. We were lucky at our last house as there were lots of supermarkets and shops nearby.

Where we are now is slightly more rural and more of a village with fewer supermarkets. Closes supermarket is an Aldi plus there is a small Tesco and a small Sainsbury’s. A Lidl is opening soon (haven’t been to one but assuming that will be v similar to Aldi?).

The main supermarkets like Asda and Morrison’s are in the nearest town just over two miles away, which isn’t that far but it feels like it to have to drive there.

Just wondering how you manage your shopping and whether you’d recommend any online food shopping in particular?

I’m thinking of doing a weekly online shop and then just using Aldi / Lidl / Tesco for any extra bits like bread and milk. We have a butcher nearby too.

I used Ocado for the first time this week and the food seems really good quality but think it’s possibly quite a bit more expensive. The food all seems to have long dates which is really good. I tried Morrison’s and Sainsburys in the old house and they were fine.

TIA

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AliceRR · 08/05/2019 12:38

Should say I don’t mind Aldi but there are some things they don’t have and certain things like meats I prefer not to buy there. I much prefer Morrison’s generally (but could get used to Asda or whatever) and if there wasn’t a big difference in distance I’d probably do all my shopping there but there is probably a price benefit to doing some shopping at Aldi.

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Xiaoxiong · 12/05/2019 19:51

I’m thinking of doing a weekly online shop and then just using Aldi / Lidl / Tesco for any extra bits like bread and milk.

This is what we do. I have a smart pass for free mid-week deliveries so on Sunday night I look through the fridge and see what needs using up, make a meal plan for the week, make a shopping list from the meal plan, and then order to be delivered on Tuesday morning. Then we only need to top up if the kids drink more milk than expected or DH eats something for lunch that I had earmarked for a dinner later that week.

Ocado is only more expensive if you are paying for delivery at prime slots, or you are seduced by their more expensive stuff. I find that making a shopping list beforehand and always sorting Price Per (low - high) means that you're getting the best value. Then ignore all the flash deals when you check out and have iron control not to impulse buy. I also like to go down the list of prices of things just before I check out and if eg. lamb is sticking out as super expensive I will change that day's meal to something cheaper or in season so as not to blow the budget.

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Xiaoxiong · 12/05/2019 19:52

I found that there was a price benefit to shopping in Lidl/Aldi but a significant time cost (especially waiting in the queues to check out), and also I found it hard not to impulse buy. So online is better for me.

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AliceRR · 13/05/2019 00:14

Thanks. That makes sense.

It does annoy me that Ocado has about three screens of offers and items to tempt you before you check out

I did another Ocado shop tonight, to arrive tomorrow, and I ended up adding things I really didn’t need. I really like Waitrose cakes 😬

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Thesunrising · 13/05/2019 00:31

I like Ocado but I’ve stopped buying fresh stuff like fruit and veg as it nearly always comes with very short use by dates, like within a couple of days of the delivery. So I now use Aldi for all the fresh stuff.

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AliceRR · 13/05/2019 00:33

I folding the Ocado veg lasted well (only had one delivery though) and the meat had good dates on it

I think aldi is fine for veg though and good price

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PickAChew · 13/05/2019 00:53

No ocado here (and i possibly wouldn't if they did, but the markses deal might tip me back over)

I do an online shop at Sainsburys 3 times a month, 3 or 4 trips to Markses (just up the road) and a few trips to Waitrose (virtually in the bus station in the next city), plus the odd top up at Aldi, Asda, Tesco, Lidl or morrisons, depending where I'm passing through. Oh, and Coop, too, but that;s about 10 steps from my front door!

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AliceRR · 14/05/2019 09:18

@PickaChew what’s the Markses deal?

I did another Ocado shop this week and it is good, good quality and good dates but I think I need to try to be better with budgeting for my internet shop 😬

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Madcats · 14/05/2019 09:48

I live in a small city, but don't drive (and would rather not spend my evenings/weekends at a supermarket with half the city and their kids).

I probably do 3 weekly shops a month with Ocado, topping up 3 or 4 times/week in Waitrose or our local convenience Tesco or Coop. I probably spend £10/month at the local fruit and veg stall, more if I am planning a massive batch cook.

If we are out in the car we might stop off at an Aldi or Lidl. A lot of our wine gets delivered - either the Wine Society or Aldi. Pet food comes from an online pet store. Once in a while Sainsburys/Waitrose/Tesco will send me a load of £3 off vouchers, so we might nip into one of their stores if we are passing. If I need frozen veg/fish etc I'll tend to get those from Iceland. They seem to do a lot of deliveries, but I never have that much space in my freezer to give those a try!

In terms of online I've tried Tesco (big superstore about 10 miles away), Waitrose (fair size supermarket near me fulfils orders) and tend to stick to Ocado (massive warehouse rammed with food somewhere). I had to book fairly early slots for the supermarket fulfilled deliveries and invariably found that things were really close to date or simply weren't available (admittedly you can add 'comments'/'do not sub' but that is time consuming).

Ocado have messed up just twice in 10 years (once they were late, but still made it through the snow). Their food usually has long expiry dates and they rarely need to sub. Once in a while they might crush something (it took them a while to sort out their automated bag packing), but requesting a refund is easy. We have company health insurance, which has the bonus of giving us free Ocado deliveries and a sizeable discount on certain food lines. I can't say I'm excited about them partnering with M&S instead of Waitrose shortly - I suspect my spend will drop.

Worth a go OP. There is a great deal on at the mo whereby an existing customer can 'invite you' so you get a free smartpass (deliveries for free for a year) and £20 off your first shop and they person who invites you saves £20 after your first shop too. If you'd like me to invite you Grin....

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Xiaoxiong · 14/05/2019 09:51

Ocado's going to start delivering M&S food, not sure when that'll start though. I think the assumption is that the Waitrose tie-up will end at that point but I don't think there's been an official announcement of that.

Ocado's own brand stuff is fine as well. I also like the fact that they carry other lines not available elsewhere here like Picard frozen stuff and the Carrefour brand Reflets de France.

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AliceRR · 14/05/2019 09:58

@Madcats That sounds good. Can you only invite new customers? I have placed two orders now so I might not be eligible

Ocado do seem good. No substitutions.

I have ordered from Morrison’s and Sainsburys once or twice and I think both times there were substitutions. I can get quick delivery too (next morning sometimes) and I’ve found that hard to find in morrisons and Sainsburys

Ocado's going to start delivering M&S food

Oh that’s interesting

Ocado's own brand stuff is fine as well

I had (wrongly?) assumed the Ocado own brand stuff would be the same as the Waitrose own brand products but perhaps the two are not as closely affiliated as I thought (if they are moving to M&S)

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TantricTwist · 14/05/2019 10:07

I alternate and online shop at Tesco and directly from Waitrose (not Ocado) which has no delivery costs.

They both sell different things that we like and Waitrose sells by far the better tastiest and freshest meat, veg and fruit imho - at least where I live.

I can not be bothered to drive to Lidl or Aldi and it just irritates me walking around and queuing up there.

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Madcats · 14/05/2019 10:12

@AliceRR yes, I presume it is just new customers. I signed my husband up as a customer when he was living away during the week- made it easy to shop for 2 very different kitchens. Ocado didn't seem to panic that we now both have accounts at the same address.

Ocado's own brand stuff is similar quality to Waitrose - they have an Essentials range and a "Gold" Range. I don't really notice much difference.

I think the Ocado/Waitrose partnership was from the early days when nobody had heard of Ocado (I can't remember whether Waitrose did online at this stage - think it was shop in store and get delivered). Over the past couple of years there has been a very definite increase or matching of own-brand lines by Ocado (probably because they knew the arrangement would need to be renegotiated).

M&S claim that they are expanding their range to fill the gaps left by Waitrose. There was a whole rant on here and on Twitter when the change was announced.

It is all change in the online delivery world:
www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/09/morrisons-free-to-use-amazon-and-deliveroo-in-looser-ocado-deal

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Xiaoxiong · 14/05/2019 12:47

Yeah I think when Waitrose started developing its own app and delivery process Ocado saw the writing on the wall and went for its own stuff and now M&S.

I tried the Waitrose app and delivery for a while but it was annoying - it's picked from the supermarket that morning so there were some short dates and some things out of stock. Also the delivery slots were fewer and it was harder to find things on the app (you couldn't rank by price per kg for instance). And I missed the other brands that Ocado had. I think I'm just acclimated to Ocado after all these years...

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katherinejones · 14/05/2019 17:49

My favourite is Ocado! We got lots of discounts if we do it once in a week. When the amount increases, they give even £20 discount

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