Supermarkets - Eventually be a thing of the past?

[Oreyt]

Do you think at some time (however many years) they will become obsolete like the high street bakers and fruit shops?

Maybe places like McDonald's and Costa will too?

You are paying a huge surcharge to get shopping within 30 minutes as it's from convenience stores like coop via Deliveroo. No proper supermarkets deliver within 3 days minimum here, slots are like gold dust.

I shop online ... Tesco... have done since it started - was fun with a dial up modem (that meant if the phone rang your Internet dropped and you had to start again).
Anyhow, been doing it so long that everything we order weekly has a note against it if it varies... so maybe against bananas I have "3 to use now, 3 green please". I have no problems and always spend less than I would in the shop.
Tesco here is HUUUUUUGGGE. Too much choice, takes so long to get round. Hate it.
Back to the original question I think supermarkets will still exist, but smaller and with automatic pay as you pickup . Few staff needed.

Most will be like Ocado where the picking is fully robotic. I think there will still be supermarkets for a long while yet but they will get smaller. Then eventually go.

The cheapest supermarket options like Aldi and quasi supermarkets like B and M would likely have to offer full home delivery first. I understand Aldi don't think it's worth their while.

I'd love Aldi to deliver.

If you buy online from a supermarket that also has customers in person you will have the fruit and veg left after people have picked through them. I shop at Ocado and as they are picked by machine you will have equal chance of getting good fruit and veg. Ocado has a wonderful stock control system so you know when you order if an item is not available and when its use by date is.

I would also love aldi to deliver

Ocado are still loss making so I don't see any room in the market for further expansion in this area in the near future. Profit margins are also lower for online supermarket sales than in store.

Same! But apparently they're not having it.

I used to get online supermarket deliveries when I didn't have a car, and have done when I've been unwell and too ill to go out but I actively prefer going to the supermarket. The majority of my friends and family shop in person rather than online too. I say this as someone that gets far too much from Amazon!

But I like the experience of choosing my own food, seeing what is on offer and often getting ideas (and yes, probably over spending because I see something and think "oh that would be nice"). I just like being out and about and seeing other people to be honest. Plus my local supermarket has a café attached and quite often I've bumped into a friend while shopping and then we've stopped and got a coffee together and had a bit of a catch up. Or sometimes I'll take myself off on a Sunday morning while DH looks after the kids and go for a coffee and read my book for a bit then do a quick food shop while I am there.

This is going to sound really sad, but the other day an elderly man stopped me in the supermarket as he needed help finding a particular flavour of yoghurt. I helped him find it and we had a quick chat and it genuinely made me feel so happy. He was the only person I'd spoken to all day and I just felt good that I'd helped someone. Who knows, maybe I was the first person he'd spoken to that day too.

I hope they don't disappear. We are already so insular as a society and I think people are losing social connections and getting more isolated to be honest.

The problem with deliveries is that it costs more than people are willing to pay, so the store has to absorb it into their margins by charging higher prices, or it's provided by exploiting the delivery contractors, ie Deliveroo drivers, who end up doing dozens of little fetching and carrying jobs for pennies a time.

If you're able to get your shopping yourself at little cost, eg drop in to Aldi on the way home from work, then home delivery is always a much more expensive option.

I do love my food.
I need to see the veggies, fruit, meat and fish I buy.
The idea of someone sending me half gone produce makes me shudder. No way I would like this.

I do a weekly shop in store! I prefer to see the items I'm getting

doubt it
They make too much money from browsers

How can a message about groceries be deleted?

Anyone know what it said?

I made a post about pasta salad a few months back and a few messages on there were deleted too 😲😲

I prefer to shop in person too, but I live just off a London high street with several supermarkets, bakeries/posh grocers etc in easy walking distance. Might be different if it was difficult to get to one easily. I shopped online when the (now adult) DC were small and I was either at work or 'trapped' in the house with toddlers, but not very much since. I got fed up with close to date stuff, substitutions and delivery charges, and like pp I enjoy the human interaction and choosing what looks good. However I am very aware that I'm much less time-poor than I was in my 30s, we don't have pets to feed, we tend to eat breakfast/lunch at work and there are only 2 or 3 of us at home for dinner most of the time!

Our local Tesco still has the clothes section upstairs but have got rid of the home and entertainment department they still have basic kitchen electricals but have reduced the amount dramatically you can still purchase on marketplace though when doing an online shop.

I think supermarkets will be the type of shop most likely to survive
they offer so many other services now, not just groceries, that people would struggle to get if they closed down - not only can you buy pretty much any type of food/home essentials lots have things like parcel collection/delivery, clothes and shoes, baby stuff, post offices, cafes, etc.

big chains can weather storms that small businesses can't, have better purchasing power, etc.