online v manual shopping

Veryskint

I know Ocado can be more expensive, but they have guaranteed use by dates, they have one hour slots, and they dont do the mad substitutions that I found I got with all the other stores. I just buy what I need and shop using the offers section, so when I have done a cost comparison vs Tesco before, Ocado came out cheaper.

Flat_Eric

I prefer to shop online. I often spend too much but I'm working on that!

Online shopping with Mr T is my preferred option - I work full time and commute by public transport - when I do visit the supermarket on the way to / from work - I always manage to buy more than I can carry and end up struggling like an idiot and getting really stressed.

We have a Sainsbugs in my local town now (used to have somerfield) so its better if I don't get round to doing a home delivery but as its more a metro store - the choice can be limited and there are not so many offers. To visit the local sainsbugs superstore would involve a commute of at least 45 mins each way and my weekends are too precious for that !

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

Where I live we are well served with Supermarkets with Tesco 10 minutes away and Waitrose, my favourite, an hours walk away.
For online Waitrose I use Ocado via My Supermarket, it is nice to see their goods online, but in the past I have used Tesco online but because I am becoming increasingly disallusioned with Tesco pricing reverting more to Waitrose being store of choice.
I like to nab the bargains at both stores when they are available.
As I have stopped using Tesco for fruit and veg and used Riverford Organics for fruit and veg, my fruit and veg performance has gone up and now I only get top ups from Tesco and Waitrose.

I also may as a result of lurking on these forums make qaulity decisions on bulk items from beans and lentils to rice.

Sharon87

Well I sometimes do a big online shop every 2-3 months or so. But haven't in the past 3 or 4 months. I much prefer shopping instore. We have a decent, not huge though, Sainsburys 10 minutes walk away (well less really), so I just go there when I need to. Between me and my brother we usually spend £40 on a big shop a week and about £10 topping up throughout the week. we have the limitations of just the use of our arms, so that helps us budget!

david100

I live on my own and only tend to do one big shop every six to eight weeks, topping up on fresh stuff as I go. The problem with shopping online for me is that I can never trust that the use by dates will be long enough. For example, I can go instore and get youghurts and make sure that the amount I'm getting will last long enough, and choose the ones with longer use-by dates - so I might buy 20, which will last me four weeks, but there's no point getting them if they all run out in 10 days. There's no guarantee (as far as I know) that this will happen online, so for that reason I prefer to shop instore. Plus I like to actually see what i'm getting and find it enjoyable finding stuff that I wouldn't have known about otherwise - as the OP says, I could easily get stuck in a rut and just buy the same stuff each time online but I like finding bargains and new stuff. However, where online does win is getting it all back up my stairs, I live in a fourth flooor flat so having a driver come round with trays and helping me upstairs with them is nice! Overall though, I prefer in-store.

Malory

I prefer instore. I tried online shopping (from Tesco and Sainsbury's) but didn't like it because:

1. I only have time to order on the weekend and to wait for the delivery person the following weekend, who will bring food that is supposed to last me all week, which means I need to know what I will want/need two weeks in advance.

2. When I am in the shop, I select food that has the most faraway expiry date. (I will look at the back of the shelf for items that expire after the items at the front of the shelf expire.) The people who pick out the items for online shopping pick out the food that is going to expire first. So I would get a bunch of food from my delivery that had a "use by" date of the following day and I wasn't able to eat it all in one day. (I don't have a lot of freezer space for storage.) I would have to throw it away and then didn't have enough food for the rest of the week. I complained to Tesco about this and they said that was how the pickers are trained to do their job. Nothing can be done about it.

3. I like picking out my own food, e.g. checking fruit for ripeness.

4. Weird substitutions for items that they don't have. e.g. replacing something meat-free with an item that has meat in it (I'm not vegetarian but I imagine someone who was would be very upset.) Or replacing a food item with a non-food item. If I am in the store and can't find what I expected, I can look for a reasonable substitute. If Ii don't get what I want from a delivery, I have to go to a shop and buy it, which defeats the purpose of online shopping.

5. I don't like sitting at home waiting for a delivery.

6. I like walking to the shop. I like being outside and active.

boydE

online shop saves loads of money, also you can build your cupboards up with offers, our budget is £100 per week, Im down to £70 now, so save £30 + i have loads of food for that.
i have my favourites too, so doing next weeks shop takes seconds, i do browse for my offers.
my only problem is that we seem to eat the same type of stuff every week, so need to change that.

sistercas

instore for me

have tried online , but was disatisfied with having to hang about for 2 hours and with the quality of some of the fruit and veg

I would rather pick fruit and veg myself , and check out the whoopsies also we have an a!di, sainsbugs and t3sco next door to each other , so i go to all three to get the best offers there is also a l!dl near my work so i pop in there too

I work part time so that does help

Pitlanepiglet

Mainly online for us as our nearest big store is 30 miles away, it is therefore cheaper to pay the delivery charge than to drive to the store and back. We used to only have a Tesco delivery but we now have Sainsbury as well, it's very exciting to have a choice :j. I tend to do a delivery every 6 weeks (free if midweek and over £100 with sainsbury) and then once every few weeks I'll go to the small Tesco 5 miles away or the bigger Lidl 10 miles away. Diesel is nearly £1.36 here so we're trying hard to combine journeys.

I'd love to be able to hang around the supermarkets to get bargains but it isn't an option.

When I lived in a town I still used to do a monthly/6 weekly bulk shop but I tended to do a weekly shop on top for fruit/veg/bargains.

ska_lover

I prefer going into the shop, rather than Online I must admit - but with a busy lifestyle, working full time and kids etc, it really is so much easier to shop online these days. I tend to do a big manual shop once a month these days and one 'top up' shop half way through the month, where i just get fresh bits and spend abotu £30.With online, you cannot guarantee getting what you have ordered, and may end up substituted which can be annoying, but the worst thing is they often fob you off with stuff you would never pick yourself. I had a delivery at 9pm one night recently, and my bread had a use by date of the next day - disgusting customer service really.

I can totally understand people using online more if they are miles away from a shop/have no car/and trudging around with small kids is never fun