stress free shopping (tesco.com)

Member Name: hypno06

Product:	tesco.com
Date:	07/06/09 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No one to get in my way!

Disadvantages: Food miles.......

Supermarket shopping is one of those roles that falls to me in the house....and it is one of those that I find most stressful. I don't know why, but it just winds me up...people who put their trolleys across the aisles and just leave them there while they wander right to the other end of the shop.....queues at the checkout, despite promises to open every one.....just the sheer volume of people all trying to do their shopping at the same time as I do. I know that everyone is entitled to go shopping whenever they want, or whenever they have time, and half of them are probably as stressed as I am, but it just doesn't make for an enjoyable experience for me!

At its worst, I am afraid to say that I got so stressed, that I left my full shopping trolley (out of the way, not blocking the aisle, of course) and walked out - I just couldn't take it any more!

It was then, some 8 years ago, that I started using online shopping - it was still quite new and I did feel that it was a bit of an extravagence, but the thought of taking that element of stress out of my life was worth it.

Tesco.com is the site I use most often - I have looked at the other supermarket delivery services, but always come back to tesco.

Registration is easy, and to encourage you to try them out, Tesco will give you a decent discount on your first order - pick up a leaflet next time you are in a store, or have a look on moneysavingexpert or hotukdeals for the latest code - this could give you free delivery, or up to £10 off your shopping.

Once you are registered, you can get shopping - you don't even need to get dressed or brush your hair. You can shop at any time, with no one bumping their trolley into you, no one pushing past you with BO to reach the highest shelf, and giving you the full benefit of their lack of washing.....and no one trying to engage you in conversation about how the price of bread has increased recently....

The first few times you use this site, it will take you a little while - all the products you would find in store are there, and they are all in their own "aisles", so you start with fruit and veg, then move to dairy, bread and bakery, frozen food etc.

When you are in the "real" shop, it is easy not to forget something, because you just walk up and down all the aisles looking at everything and picking up what you want - you don't get to do this in the same way online, so it is well worth making a shopping list before you start, to make sure you don't miss anything.

Once you have done a couple of shops online, it will become much quicker -this is because all your previous shops are stored, so if you buy more or less the same things each week - fruit, veg, milk, bread, catfood, fishfingers etc, then you can just click on your favourites without searching for them. Also, anything you buy in store is added to your list - so if you pop in to your local Tesco Express for a chocolate fix at lunchtime (who, me?) it will show as one of your favourites online too.....

One of the good features is the "find a cheaper alternative" option - so if you want bread, and you pick "warburtons" for example, you can click on the "cheaper alternative" option, and it will come up with some similar items that are cheaper - this means you can easily reduce the cost of your shopping without too much extra effort!

You can make a note on each product - for example, if you want slightly under-ripe bananas so that they last all week, then you can write "please pick slightly green ones", I often write "please pick a long use by date" on sliced meat, milk etc as sometimes you find that the date on the food delivered is quite short, where as if I was in the shop myself I would rummage through for the longest date.

The shopping is added up as you go - so you can see at the right hand side of your page how much you have "spent" so far.....this is invaluable to me because I am trying to stick to a strict budget, so I don't get that awful shock at the till when I have overspent - I simply go back through my list and see what has crept in without it really being necessary, and then I just delete that item, or go and look for a cheaper alternative.

Any multibuy or BOGOF offers will be deducted when you actually pay for your shopping on the day it is delivered - so the amount you see on the screen is probably more than you will actually pay.

Once you are happy with the contents of your virtual trolley, you can go through to checkout. You can book a delivery slot if you haven't already done so.

Delivery is 7 days a week, from early in the morning to late in the evening (shorter hours on Sundays), and the cost of delivery varies from just £3 on a Tuesday evening after 8pm (guess when I have my shopping delivered!) to £6.00 in the more popular Saturday morning delivery slots. You can book your shopping in for up to 3 weeks in advance - very handy when you are trying to arrange a Christmas shop!

Next you can enter in any discount codes or money off vouchers that you might have - these are frequently sent to you in the post, and can often make quite a difference to the end bill.

Then, once you are happy with everything, enter your payment - debit or credit card - details and your clubcard details (which will be saved). You can elect to have your payment details saved if you want, but you don't have to.

Payment is not actually deducted until delivery is made, but they might do a £1 "test" on your card just to check it is valid.

You can go back and amend your shopping up to a few hours before it is delivered - this is really useful when you remember you have forgotten that all important bottle of wine....or whatever!

That's it then, just make sure you are in for your allocated delivery slot. When it arrives, if there is anything that they couldn't provide, they will substitute it for something similar - you don't have to accept the alternative though - they will highlight it on your list and you can hand it back to the driver without charge if you feel the need.

I have found this method of shopping really useful too when we have all been ill - supermarket shopping is really really bad when you all have tummy bugs for example, yet you can have lucozade and plain biscuits delivered without hassle.

Of course, if you don't drive, or live out in the country where there is no supermarket for miles around, the cost of delivery is far far less than it would cost you to travel to the supermarket or to get a taxi or bus. It is also great for the elderly or housebound. The cost of delivery is per time slot, not based on the value of your spend, or how far away you live, so it can work out a real saving for you.

If you do have a problem, I have found customer services to be helpful. Once, when unpacking my shopping I found I was missing a bag of frozen food. They arranged to redeliver this at a time and place to suit me, and also gave me extra clubcard points as an apology for the hassle.

Good points -

- saves me the stress of the supermarket
- I can see what I am spending as I go, and adjust accordingly
- I can shop when it suits me, no need to fit in around store opening hours
- If you don't drive, the cost of delivery is far far cheaper than getting a taxi, or even a bus!
- No need to lug heavy bags to and from the car
- Often you can get discount vouchers via email

Bad points -

- you are relying on someone else to pick your fresh food for you and they may not be as fussy as you are re dates etc.
- Check where you are having your shopping delivered from - I have a Tesco 5 miles away yet my shopping comes from the store that is 20 miles away which I find incredible!

The Tesco.com site allows you to buy bigger goods on tesco direct, such as TVs etc, and also fresh flowers, financial products etc. It is all there and I have used most things over the years, but the grocery shop is the place I visit most.

Summary: A great service which I will continue to use.