What is the smallest price difference that would make you purchase from Amazon instead of the local supermarket?

[MullerDuller]

Cadburys drinking chocolate (500g) is £4.15 on Amazon and £4.50 in supermarkets.
Is that enough to justify using Amazon?
I would probably buy two and I do live in a city so the Amazon van will be coming to our street, every day, anyway.
Is 35p (or 70p for two) worth it?

@Chickdaft you're right. Part of my job is serving in a shop. Today I had loads if regulars through the door. We chat about something and nothing, they purchase from an independent supplier. On the carpark (it's a small retail park of independent food suppliers) I often see people bumping into friends, colleagues etc. It's actually busier than ever, as are the farmers markets we attend, as more people seem to appreciate the social aspect, as well as supporting local. Hopefully the tide is changing.

Don't get me wrong, home.dwlivery is super efficient for many, but I'd love it if more people actively engaged with their local shops.

So true and I know of people who were doing a PhD in loneliness of the elderly (especially in rural areas) It’s not rocket science as far as I can see, strip back public transport, getting a Drs appointment, make driving to a town limited and expensive to park in. Family working longer hours so not as much time to visit.

Buy a little local as you can/or afford. All makes a difference to hold a sense of community I think, gets people chatting, know their neighbours and so on. Scares me to think I’d only speak to a delivery driver in 10 to 20 years time for about half a minute!

Nope, it lots of places the High Street shops had gone long before Amazon. Supermarkets and retail parks started the rot back in the 80s and 90s. The likes of Amazon are hitting them hard. Amazon probably caused the closure of lots of town centre Argos stores, but Argos themselves would have caused the closures of lots of smaller independent stores when they moved into virtually every town centre. It's really not the internet nor amazon that caused us to lose tens of thousands of small independent shops - that's thanks to Tesco, Morrisons, Argos, Currys, Asda, Pets at Home, DFS and all the other "warehouse" style shops on retail parks etc. Ironic that they're the ones suffering and struggling now due to internet shopping yet there seems to be a slight return of small independents in some more affluent places - the pendulum swings back!

Nice idea. In our small village, we had a small privately owned Spar shop, right in the centre, hub of the community type of thing, next to a private bakery shop and a library. Sounds just like you say, lots of people chatting to eachother etc.

Then along comes a Co-Op, newly built on the edge of the village by the by-pass road. Not really much bigger than the Spar, but has it's own small car park. Lots of people who loved the "sense of the community" went to shop there instead and the loss of trade caused the Spar shop to close down. The "locals", it seems, weren't that bothered about the sense of community and bumping into friends after all! The drivers in particular were happy to drive a few minutes to the by-pass rather than walk a few minutes to the village centre shop - obviously don't care that they wouldn't meet someone to have a natter on the journey!

Inevitably, the loss of trade is now affecting the small bakers who are also struggling to keep going and in all likelihood will close down soon, They are also talking about reducing the library opening hours due to reduced demand.

Same happened with the local pubs. The village used to have 3. 2 have now closed. Exactly the same scenario, once closed, everyone was complaining about lack of community and how the pubs were really needed for the lonely etc., Well use the bloody things then - give them custom so they can survive.

But no, it's the same old "proxy" style of whinging on behalf of other people. It's always "other people" who want the village shop, the village pub, etc., but in reality, people just won't use them often enough nor spend enough to keep them viable. They want these amenities for the occasional time they may use them, but won't support them themselves enough to keep them.

2008 my town centre died I didn't get amazon until 2017? So I didn't cause the downfall of my town centre rather the downfall caused me to find an alternative

Well it costs me fuel for a 30 min return trip to the supermarket and that had to be scheduled around working and caring for my Mum. So if it's similar price I'll prime it for the convenience, and I get tonnes of things delivered that I'd need to make a much longer trip if my rural Tesco doesn't stock it.

My answer would probably be very different if I lived somewhere with more options.

It depends on the circumstances. In your example, if I happened to be at or walking past the shop then I’d go in and buy it at the higher price.
Depends how desperate I am for the item too.

I want to buy my child a Mr Potato head. It’s £10 on Amazon. £8 in Smyths. Driving to Smyths is a pain in the arse but I’d rather wait until I’m nearby and can pop in than pay an extra £2, even though if I ordered it right now it would be delivered before the end of the day.

@Neeenaaw you could order for delivery directly from Smyths.
I think a lot on people do seem to think buying online = Amazon.
I buy a lot of stuff online but from actual high st shops. Sometimes you have to pay P+P but it's often less than the bus fare to the shops would be.

Same

Plus costs me £3 to park if I can find a space

And can't always find what I want so can spend a couple of hours driving , parking and Searching

Where amazing Amazon I can find in a minute or 2 and usually delivered next day

But the added P&P makes it more expensive than Amazon, so it's quicker and probably cheaper to use Amazon.

@taxguru yes but she said Mr Potato Head was cheaper in Smyths than Amazon.
Amazon isn't always cheapest.

It would have to be something life saving that couldn’t be purchased elsewhere at any price.

I pay for Amazon prime annually, so will order everything from there in the first instance, with no added delivery charges.

It’s also faster. Plus I’ve had kids toys delivered in original packaging from Smyths, right before Christmas. That doesn’t work. And they won’t take Amex.

Shops make it too easy to choose Amazon. They don’t offer the same service.

I buy a lot on Amazon-it's incredibly convenient and quick. That said I do tend to do my grocery shopping in person