I’m an online shopper AMA

[Soubriquet]

I do the online picking for a major supermarket

AMA

Do you mean you go around picking peoples internet shopping? If so:

Why didn’t you send me any bread yesterday? I know you may have run out of warburtons thick white sliced but surely you could’ve sent a substitution?

Also - do you select the best fruit n veg or just bung any old thing in?

Do you buy stuff with the longest date or just grab from the front?

Why do you sometimes just put one item in a bag? Are there rules / guidelines about what can't be packed together? It's a waste of packaging if not.

I always select the best date I can even if it means lifting heavy boxes. Other shoppers don’t. They tend to grab what they can which I personally think is bad practice but as long as it’s short lifed, they get away with it as IPH (items per hour) is something we have to hit.

Bread..well there’s always something even if it isn’t your personal one so that should have been subbed

And yes, fish products have to be in a different bag to meat products which can be frustrating as it means more bags are used.

Sometimes we only have 1 item for a shop, which could result in a bag..even if it’s something small like a mascara

Can you use your own common sense for substitutions or do you get told by the computer what to pick?

I always use my common sense but some don’t.

I see what the handset advises for substitutions and, honestly some make me think WTF. I can over ride the handset and I do when I need to

Do you find it difficult to get the job done in the time you’re given whilst making sure you don’t get in the way of customers? The last few times I’ve ventured out to Asda there’s been so many people doing the picking for online shops that it’s been difficult for the customers and the people working to get to stuff on the shelves.

I always thought I'd love this job... but really the novelty would wear off after half an hour!
Do you ever get what seems like weird combinations of things or do you not really notice?

It’s harder when customers come in as we are supposed to give them their space (not they give you the same respect ) and it is very frustrating when you’re in a rush and they are inspecting each and every tomato before they pick it up.

But as long as you’ve achieved early in the shift, it doesn’t impact on your IPH so you can slow down a bit and take your time.

I don’t really notice what I pick anymore unless it’s really unusual like a single Brussels sprout

We are allowed to wear headphones and listen to music, so apart from checking dates and making sure packaging are in a good condition, you don’t tend notice what you’re grabbing

Do you enjoy your job?

(My home delivery is always so well shopped, best fruit/veg, longest dates etc and I'm always grateful to my shopper and hope they enjoy what they do!)

Do you ever think “ooh, they must be loaded” (when picking a list with say, loads of smoked salmon, champagne, expensive toiletries etc) or “ooh, they must be poor” when picking a list with say, loads of cheap tinned items like spam etc? And would you judge them for their poor diet choices?

I do actually!

I have days where I think about getting another job, but to be honest, I really do enjoy it. It’s good money for a part time job, and it means I can be at home with my children which is handy, especially with them being home from school right now. I haven’t got to look at any child care options

No. I don’t think about the poor stuff, but sometimes I do think “who the hell pays £18 for a jar of honey” or “who pays £11 for 2 chicken breasts!”

But once it’s in the tote, I tend to forget about it unless someone mentions it!

@Soubriquet

I do actually!

I have days where I think about getting another job, but to be honest, I really do enjoy it. It’s good money for a part time job, and it means I can be at home with my children which is handy, especially with them being home from school right now. I haven’t got to look at any child care options

Really glad to hear it! 🤗

Know you don't have contact with the people you shop for but I'm sure there are so many like me who are grateful for the work you do! Honestly, if I was doing my own shopping it wouldn't be as carefully picked! Thank you! 🙏

Yes like meggymoo says, thank you very much!

Do you have to scan a certain amount of items a minute like they do at the Lidl checkout?

Yes. That’s the IPH i mentioned.

We have to achieve 164.5 items per hour.

On some days it’s easy. If you get nice big shops, it’s a breeze.

If you get little shops it’s harder but chilled shops bump it up nicely

If you get lots of little shops, frozen, pre picked (so things like tobacco), you’re screwed.

Luckily, it’s carried out over the week so you can get away with one bad shop a week.

At the moment, because it’s so busy, management aren’t pulling people up who don’t achieve. Before the pandemic, if we didn’t achieve 2 weeks in a row, we would have a meeting to see how they could support us.

What are your working hours?

2am till 8/9am (it used to be 4-8am before CV)

Though from next week it’s going back to 4-8am

I want to do this but can never seem to find these jobs advertised. How did you hear of your job please?

I was lucky.

I decided that day I wanted to apply for a job in that particular supermarket and amazingly enough there was a vacancy going in that department

It wasn’t one I originally wanted but I’m glad I’m doing it now

Everyone else who has been hired over the last year has been hired through Facebook on the the local job pages

But look at your supermarkets vacancy pages, check your local fb job pages and even drop in and talk to the managers at the store

Good luck

Whyyyy would Sainsbury's substitute my 2 x 2L of skimmed milk with 1x 1L of skimmed milk?? I'm quite miffed today as now I'm 3L of milk down and am going to have to go to the shop this week now, when the whole point of a delivery is avoiding the shops!

To be fair most substitutions have been fine, but this one is really annoying. Is it left to the picker to use their common sense (or not in this case!) about what to substitute? Surely there was some other milk in the store other than one weedy little 1L bottle, and it would have been clear I needed significantly more than what was substituted!

This is something that is being worked on

I always sub the same amount or higher, but some of the newer staff just pick the first one instead of 2

It’s being re-trained into them so hopefully it will stop

Why is raw meat always packed in the same bag with cheese and cooked ham etc? I would never do that when I pack my own.

Also want to agree with PPs. Thanks OP. I’m very grateful to people doing this work at the moment.

It shouldn’t be!!

Raw meat should be in one bag, fish products in another, and the rest we are bagless for in our supermarket but it should be all other products in another bag

When do you sleep?