to be confused by this supermarket behaviour

[SecretWineBox]

Why do people get taxis back from supermarkets with a big weekly shop, when the supermarket delivers for a couple of quid?

I really don't get this - there is even a special taxi phone near the exit. Surely this can't be cost effective?

Also, why on earth do people wander round the shop with increasingly bored/irritated children to do said weekly shop, when said shop delivers?

I see people combining both of the above, is this some form of masochism?

I get it all delivered - drop in occasionally to get the odd thing.

Why? This has been bugging me for ages....

I have seen people outside supermarkets waiting for a taxi or getting into one.
It is a sweeping generalisation, based on the few incidents of this I have seen, but I suspect that it is actually often those on the lowest incomes who do this - similar to the fact it is often those on the lowest incomes who are forced to go for the most expensive options.

So people doing this often don't have a car and are either elderly or have mobility problems which means they find public transport difficult. They may well not have a bank account or access to the internet and pay with cash so cannot organise a delivery.
Additionally, people often choose to go as an 'outing' - if you are at home all day, every day, then going to the supermarket might feel like an interesting trip out of the house, rather than a chore to be squeezed into a manic schedule.

I think it's about realising not everyone lives the life we live......supermarket deliveries make huge sense for me, as I am pushed for time and the delivery is cheap and convenient. Many people are actually time rich, but have few choices due to being money poor or having other limiting factors.

Of course, there are also people who could have it delivered but sometimes choose to go in person, even with their children too. Could for any number of reasons.

Maybe it doesn't bother the OP but imagine a world where all or the majority of shopping is done online- grim.

It's not just about privilege but a lack of imagination generally. I'm time poor not cash poor and live in a part of a city where most of the main supermarkets deliver but I prefer shipping in person

Yabu on this one OP but I have nooo idea why people take the whole family on a food shop; mum dad and three kids under 10 all over the place and getting stressed with each other and all queuing at the till.
Very odd.

I go with my two (4 and 2 with SN). Honestly it's lovely, we have a chat, younger one gets to practice walking without the danger of running into the road, they learn to wait, they learn they can't be entertained all the time, they choose the veg, get to choose a treat if they're good. I could go on.

I also hate online shopping. Tried it once and ended up with about 4 meals that needed cooking sooner than I wanted due to the dates given - a bottleneck of food. I much prefer choosing my fruit and veg and, like someone upthread, I dig out the longest date possible. It gives me the chance to loosely work out what we're having each night for a few nights based on dates. The OP admits she doesn't get her veg and meat delivered so that makes it a different kettle of fish - not hard to see. Then there are the new foods being introduced that you might miss online. I don't love it but don't hate it either, probably as I go mid-week usually not busy times.

I prefer to get the shop myself.

The bit I hate about shopping is the putting it into cupboards at this end, which I'd have to do anyway.

I do wonder about full family shopping though. Mum, dad and three cross bored children. I just wonder why they don't choose to have one adult (and possibly one child) at the shops while the other children go with the other adult somewhere which they will enjoy and tire them out.

But I have strange children who think doing the shop a treat.

I get a taxi when I do my weekly shop. I don't live far from the supermarket but it's too much stuff to carry (about half a kilometre away).

If I split it into two/three lots I could carry it but it's a faff on. A taxi costs me £2.50. Delivery charge costs £2.99/£3.99. Plus I prefer to pick what I like and make my own substitutions, where necessary and make sure the use by dates are okay. Sometimes, I deviate from my list.

I do this occasionally. Mostly I walk back carrying everything but when my back hurts//i am flush, I do this because:

• It is much harder to buy the Basics/Smartprice brands online. Lots of items aren't even listed on the sites and I'm not paying twice as much when I know they have it in store. Thus I can then buy more food.

• I've had issues with tiny/bashed up/short dated fruit and veg before when it was delivered. In store I can hand pick and weigh myself so nothing gets wasted or goes off too early.

• DS2 loves 'helping' me in the supermarket. It teaches him good behavioural skills, and he learns what lots of words mean, what food looks like, he is learning to read a bit too (DS1's first recognised word was 'ASDA' followed by 'EXIT' - DS2 knows that S is for 'SAINSBREES!'.

I am very (embarrassingly' reliant on the reduced items section at the end of the day... without this, I would be having to skip a lot of meals. And you can't do this online, obviously.

The only bad thing about doing it my way is that I miss out on getting far nicer items as substitutions, when my Smartprice item is out if stock so they give me premium brand stuff at no additional cost...

I get basics cornflakes. They are 25p for a huge bag. If they aren't available I wouldn't want them subbed with other cornflakes. I'd just choose other basics cereal, such as rice crispies or weetabix. I think they charge for the item in your shopping rather than the item you selected where I shop.

I can do my big shop in 20 minutes. It'd take me longer than that to do it online.

I used to do it online but found we were eating the same stuff all the time. I like to go and see what's new or what I might like to try.

My DS likes to scan. He discovered a new love for shopping when he can scan it.

I hate delivery. Often late, ghost payment issues, naff subs, poor dated fresh food. Meh I'd rather go myself.

When my parents didn't have a car for a few years me and mum used to walk to the supermarket then get a taxi back - a taxi costing the same as 2 adult tickets.

with online shopping you don't get to pick out the freshest fruit and veg, try random new things that you spot on special offer etc.

If not only shop instore but I do it every day.

I actually like food shopping.

I love to cook, the whole process. Spending hours looking up recipes, making lists, going to the shops, and then cooking it.

I love wandering about the shops choosing what to buy, reading the ingredients, hmming over which brand to buy. I like checking out all the speciality ingredients and finding new stuff. Plus the bonus of stocking up on pastries and similar that are reduced to 12p.

I know others don't get it and think I'm weird or sad but I don't care.

I've tried online grocery shopping twice in my life.

First time was when it was a fairly new phenomenon, about 15 years ago from Tesco. It was a fiasco. Stuff got substituted for cheap own brand or totally random other stuff, i forgot half of it because i couldn't see it all (i was expecting a sort of virtual shop to wander round ), it cost me a fiver and i ended up in the bloody shop the next day anyway to buy kids clothes. I swore i'd not bother ever again.

The second time was this summer, Sains. Big family holiday in a rented cottage, so self catering obvs, and much easier to order a massive shop for arrival day. £300 worth of shopping. Once again there were substitutions and mistakes. Also i hated having to unpack it all all over the work tops 'cos the delivery man needed his boxes back! I mean naturally he does - but it was bloody chaos!

I would do it again, but only for the holiday scenario, never for the weekly shop.

My neighbour walks to the supermarket (just under a mile away), and gets a taxi back with her shopping. Taxi fare is £2.50 for that distance (up north). I do the weekly shop online, and love not having to go to the supermarket myself! I find shopping stressful, and it's so much easier doing it online...unless you leave it until the last minute the night before, of course !

Yes, and to be honest sometimes i do enjoy the supermarket shop.

We have a massive Sains. and sometimes I take my time with DD4 (18 months) and we look at the clothes and toys, and the fresh veg and the bread. I like looking at the home wear and the kids books and then the cake section ... . :) It can be nice when it's quiet in there.