Time saving shopping, for the most part. (Asda.com)

Member Name: gump103

Product:	Asda.com
Date:	14/05/09 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: convenient, saves time, saves travelling the miles

Disadvantages: item descriptions could be better, products don't always get care needed

Having lived in Brum for a number of years within easy reach of ASDA the wife and i grew to like the products that they offer. However since moving to Exeter we found the nearest Asda to be in Newton Abbot which is a good 30-40 miles away, as such we started using Tescos until we found out that Asda deliver here though the online shopping. Having just had another child we figured that this would make things a little easier and save loads of time.

Signing up to the site is easy, give them your postcode and it directs you to the sign up page where you register with the local store. After a few details you can begin to place an order.

Placing the orders is a pretty simple affair, the layout is such that items are grouped by type so they are easy to find and it proves to be quite easy to complete a shopping list. Once you have placed an order you can recall all the items so that you can quickly pick the items you need for your next order.

The variety on offer is not bad but I have found that there seem to be a fair number of products that don't seem to be listed that I would expect to find in the store, and sometimes the product descriptions are very poor, in particular we really like the custom pizza's from asda, and although they are available in pre-prepared selections the ingrediants are never listed so the chicken special doesn't list that there is bacon and mushrooms on it.

Checking out is pretty simple and the site allows you to save you're credit card details so as to not have to input them each time, you can pick a delivery slot for each 3 hour window on offer and generally the drivers always call ahead if they are going to be a little early or late. Delivery costs between £4-5.50 depending on time and day the slot is booked for but with a little searching on google you can generally find an evoucher to get free delivery.

As for the actual recieved goods, we have had a few problems in the 15 or so deleveries we've had so far. The first problem is that we had 6 items missing from an order even though we'd been charged, the money for the items was refunded but it did mean that I had to run out to tescos which kind of missed the point of getting home delivery. The second problem was due to a bottle of bleach leaking over the rest of the shopping, luckily we caught it before any damage was done but on reporting it to the store we were told there is nothing more they could do to prevent it happening again.

In conclusion the Asda online shopping experience does save a lot of time (most of the time) but doesn't compare to actually shopping in a store. We have been underwhelmed with the customer service that we have recieved but not yet to a level where we would switch to tesco or sainsburys for our online shop as some of the asda products (pizzas) are just better.

Summary: underwhelming online shopping experience