Ocado - is there any point to it? Shall I just go to Morrisons?

[swanriver]

Just tried to put together an Ocado order. For the first time.
Why am I bothering? Morrison's has everything I need. And it's across the road.
Please someone SELL me something to make the boring slog worthwhile. Someone once mentioned vanilla bean paste...

They bring the bags up to your kitchen! No more schlepping round the aisles of Morrisons with the great unwashed.

For me, I like it just because going shopping with a naughty 4 year old, screechy baby and moaning husband is a little taste of hell on earth. I like my shopping delivered to the door with very few substitutions (ocado best for this, have tried all the others) and I love the way Ocado use different colored bags so I can put my shopping away easily. Also once you've got a 'typical' shop set up then you can just click on that every week. Make sure you get a discount code before you get your delivery (google for it). Most Ocado things are good btw but their wholewheat pasta is ridiculously dear and their fruit is not always great (but only M&S do really good fruit I think).

I use them, used to go to the local shop, but am a convert.

Reasons are:

Total PITA to go around shops with 3.5 DD and 18mo DD, and impossible to carry much stuff while pushing pushchair and holding DD hand
Cheaper as no impulse buying
No stress (kids - rain - pushchairs - etc)
Free delivery slots around here which are great
Um
That's it
The stuff is good quality (I trust their standard meat etc to be from happier animals than some other places) but then the local supermarket is waitrose anyway and I'm too lazy to go further

It's much cheaper to plan and order the delivery and make sensible, affordable choices than to swan around Waitrose piling trolley high with aspirational toiletries and ingredients for weird recipes you won't eat and that is before you even get to the really nice wine section.

We have WaitroseDeliver rather than Ocado but I assume basic similarities such as majority of substitions being free (if higher value than original order) and short dated items being free and delivery itself is free and you get the free and unwittingly hilarious Food Illustrated magazine and then all the JL reward vouchers every three months as a thank you. Have missed Waitrose so much over past year or two, am not shopping anywhere else again unless it is an emergency.

Waitrose sounds much better than Ocado (expensive deliveries or annual scheme, no free substitutions but they do tell you the sell by dates). But it's Ocado or nowt round here.
It is lovely and easy though although I don't have a supermarket across the street myself.

ocados fruit, and veg is much better quality - lasts longer - my kids gobble it up. since a maggot fell out in my son's hand whilst eating a peach they won't touch morrisons fruit. i haven't eaten their sausages since the lady told me about the pigs testicles she found.

you sometimes get 15% off with ocado. its much easier (once you've got your favourites list and get used to the site). why battle round a shop lugging bags when you can get them delivered to your kitchen? you can fit ordering around other jobs. i only ever go into supermarkets now for a few bits and pieces or if i fancy a browse - haven't done a whole shop for years as too much like hard work

bear with it - the first couple of times are the worst

I love Ocado - if your clever you can usually get very cheap or free delivery (tuesday late is normally a good one), once you have a few shops its really easy to just copy them over no impulse buying so saves money. I havent had a substitution in ages and the delivery guys are great.
I also liked waitrose deliver especially for the free substitutions but started to have a reall issue with out of date and close to use by date items so stopped using them.

Apart from the obvious advantage of not having to drag two DDs to Sainsbury's, the main advantages to me are that the food is generally better quality (especially meat, fruit and vegetables) and I spend considerably less than I would in a suoermarket because I stick to the list, instead of adding things to the trolley willy-nilly just because they caught my eye. And now they pricematch Tesco on a lot of products you don't have to spend more on basics.

Oooh oooh oooh and the fabulous way it remembers your Favourites means that next time you will be able to shop really quickly!

The only problem I've found is that they don't do substitutions. Because the warehouse is automated, if something's not available you sometimes get a 'computer says no' scenario. Once they turned up and told me they had no bread and no substitute, which was v. annoying when children were waiting for their toast!

Reasons not to go to Morrisons:

The fish counter stinks
I used to quite fancy Richard Hammond before he became perma superglued to a Morrisons trolley.
They nicked a previously good song by the awesome Take That for aforementioned crappy adverts and I bear a grudge.

I just don't like Morrisons to be honest - Tesco or Asda. Home delivery got too much of a hassle for us - but the amusement of some of the substitutions was always entertaining.

For ocado: they put the bags neatly on the table where I can reach, and will happily dig through the bags to find the substitution if I don't want it. Also you can do returns online.

(Oh, and they let you pick from your previous shops - if I click on 'Snow's shop', I can then add:

Products in your favourites (including categories)

Products you may have forgotten

Products you may have run out of

Offers on products in your favourites

Products recommended to you (including categories)

As well as those from previous named orders, and an instant shop).

emptyshell - I agree the fish counter in my local Morrisons stinks too! Had an interesting conversation the other day which goes something like this;

Me: Is all your fish is fresh or is pre-frozen?
Mr Morrisons: Yes, it?s caught and delivered fresh each day.
Me: uh, what about that Vietnamese river trout?
Mr Morrisons: Yep all fresh.
Me: What, from Vietnam?
Mr Morrisons: Yes, from Vietnam.
Me: Do you know where Vietnam is?
Mr Morrisons: No I don?t.

Say no more.

Ocado is definitely worth it. I know lots of people seem to think it's expensive but actually lots of the Ocado/Waitrose own branded stuff is very nice and many branded products are price matched with Tesco. I also find it stops me sticking stuff in a trolley because it's cheap/on offer/looks nice/I'm hungry. It's really cut down our food spending.

I do think the first couple of times are a bit of a pain cos you have to add everything individually but after that it's very quick.

Oh and I love the money saving thingy they've added recently, where it tells you what you could swap in your trolley for a cheaper version

Saying that we do sometimes get our meat from Morrisons as we tend to buy our meat at the end of each month with what's left from our food budget.

It'll become second nature after a while, once you get used to it.

To sell as Ocado own-brand, right? Not as waitrose?

Go to Morrisons with a shopping list .

my son can tell if they ocado/waitrose gala apples or if i bought them from elsewhere - they don't swap their apples at our depot.

Ocado is AMAZING

The choice is really great.

They are always really friendly.

Its better for the environment to have one van on the road than all of us driving to the shops. (Maybe not for you if you would walk to Morrisons).

You never have to go to the supermarket again.

Once its set up it takes minutes.

Their ideas and recipes are brilliant. I love it and I don't work for it!!

Plus all supermarkets do what Sierra19 says. For example Sainsbury's taste the difference stew is actually made by another well known stew company. You would (probably) pay more for the stew in its own brand trendy packaging. - Made in the same factory by the same people - just different packaging, sold in the same shop. Its common practice.

Oh how I love Have You Run Out Of? And Products You May Have Forgotten and the best ever new one, where it tells you what the cheap versions of what you've bought are and you can swap them out!

But best of all is how they bring it to my door at whatever time I choose and it's always all there and the delivery guy brings it right through to the kitchen. Nothing better really.

It is quite time consuming to do the first order but future orders take a fraction of the time. Its such a time and money saver. Also easier to spot any bargains.