Online shopping - will it ever go back to normal?

[2004SavedMe]

I have been online shopping with Sainsbury's for years, but I've not been able to get a slot since all of this madness began. I gave up trying quite quickly anyway, realising that there are vulnerable people that need those slots more than me, fine. I do keep wondering though, once this is all over, won't all of these people that don't normally shop online for their groceries realise how nice it is to shop online? Maybe they won't want to go back to shopping in store and there will never be any free delivery slots ever again. Why would you go back to shopping in store once you've discovered the greatness of getting your shopping delivered to your door?

I hate it! No fear of me swapping. I like seeing what I'm buying and picking up stuff I dont need.

I think usage will drop from its current level once people are more able to go out, but I don't think it'll drop to the same level it was at 6 months ago, I think it'll be higher than then. Hopefully though, as the supermarkets have been recruiting during this period, they'll be able to meet the demand.

(As an aside, I haven't had trouble getting delivery slots. There's not the same choice as there was, but there are slots available most times I look. I've used Tesco and Asda. Shortages must be quite area-specific)

I've done it a couple of times but find the substitutions frustrating and the fruit and veg aren't always the size that I would pick myself. I prefer shopping in store.

Yes I’ve wondered this too. I’ve had an online slot with Tesco for years and years - that’s stopped obviously. I have a large family and we get through mountains of food. For the first few weeks of lockdown we managed on our stockpiles (got lots of extra stuff with our last delivery) but now I’m having to go to the supermarket at least twice a week. I hate it and am really worried I won’t ever get to do online grocery shopping again. Even with the farm food & milkman delivery I’ve managed to get it’s not enough as they only sell limited things.

Atm going to the shop is fine as it’s something to do but don’t want to be doing it for the rest of my life! I HATE having to lug a big trolley around and the amount of time it all takes. I doubt people who have changed to online shopping will now give it up - I know I wouldn’t!

I’d now use it for everything heavy. If there was a vaccine though so back to normal want to chose my own vegetables and fruit. I also normally live alone so going to the shop then having a coffee out is something I enjoy (maybe because I’m not wrangling children).

Should add I'm shielding, not just nicking your slots.

I cant wait till I can go to all my wee zero waste shops again and buy glass bottles of milk (I'm in a flat so they wont deliver).

I also started using my local butcher as this all kicked off - cant believe how much nicer the mince was that's one of the good things to come out of all this, I think a lot of people have realised wee shops are good and worth the extra few pence if its affordable.

I hope it does. I'm just lazy so prefer it being brought to me. Plus it stops me going 'yeah I need that' to more chocolate than I actually need. 😁

Lockdown will be for another 17 months so it’s going to be bad for a while yet.

We've used it for years but had a few people sneering about it in the past. We managed to get a recurring slot with Asda for the first few weeks and now Tesco have let delivery pass customers see an extra week, we can go back to them as there are plenty of slots for us to pick now.

I imagine there will be a lot of people looking for work for the next while, so I imagine they will reduce their capacity for online delivery permanently as I think demand will remain high for the foreseeable.

Some stuff we will keep doing too, like the milkman and the butcher, as we've enjoyed it, even though it is more expensive.

Increase their capacity*

I think a lot of people are using it simply because they are unable to go to the shops in person. For a lot of older people particularly a trip to the supermarket is an event in itself.
I'll be glad to get my slot back I must say.

I've been telling my parents for years to get their shopping delivered and they've never been keen. Total converts now, they won't go back.

The world is changing, and yes, although I think online shopping uptake will be higher than it was after this ends, supermarkets will adapt to meet demand. Perhaps via ghost supermarkets full of pickers.

In New York you can get most things delivered at most times, eg run out of Campari, you can get it sent straight up.

I foresee an almost UberEats style shopping in the future, shop to door in less than 1 hour.

Lockdown will be for another 17 months so it’s going to be bad for a while yet

What’s your source for that @BasilDiffuser?

Lockdown will be for another 17 months so it’s going to be bad for a while yet.

Er what?

I hate fresh food shopping online, I prefer to go and choose it myself, I do however miss buying all the other household stuff online, we couldn’t find any slots on Ocado first few weeks, so had to buy everything from multiple shops. Horrible!

We began buying fruits and veg from suppliers and it’s so much nicer, so probably we might buy more often.

I thought this too. I imagine there will be plenty who now realise it’s much less hassle to get it delivered and will carry on after this is all over. I hope supermarkets manage to cater for everyone as Ive done mine online for a few yrs up till now. Have stopped looking for slots at the moment as able to shop in store and dp been furloughed so can go in week on my own.

All of the supermarkets around my way are completely full, all of the time, so I assumed it was like that everywhere at the moment. Maybe our local depots are smaller or something. I do like picking my own fresh food too, but I LOVE someone dropping all of the shopping off at my front door more! Hopefully it'll all settle down a bit when normality resumes.

Before lockdown we frequently used online deliveries, however, I’m not keen on other people selecting my fruit and veg and never ordered fresh meat.
I think we’re lucky where we live because we’ve managed to get an online delivery pretty much every week and currently our local Morrison’s has lots of slots available whenever I look.
Once this is over we’ll go back to a mix of online deliveries and supermarket visits for the rest of the stuff.

My understanding was online supermarket delivery was a loss leader, so if demand continues at current levels after Corona is properly controlled, I suspect the supermarkets will want to change things to get us back in store.

I shop online a couple of times a year, and would probably stick with that - delivery when I have a reason to need it, instore the rest of the time.

@BasilDiffuser where did you get that little gem from?

We had delivery once a week since my twins were born, ten years ago! Sainsbury is back to normal where I am - have had no issues at all in the last three weeks, still some dodgy substitutions though.

@inwood parents of twins should get the priority delivery slots all day, every day!

@DuchessOfBeddington
Perhaps via ghost supermarkets full of pickers.

For some reason I thought a few of the services operated like this depending on your area. Maybe that’s just Ocado though?

We have been using click and collect as we normally only use delivery (just easier) with some things delivered (milk, fruit and veg) and some from zero waste shops.
Two local supermarkets have click and collect that didn't do it before. I don't know if they will carry on doing it - it's quite slow to pick it up so clearly they are not that well set up for it at the moment.