For those who have gone the online grocery shopping route, you know it saves time, money, and the few shreds of sanity parenting has left behind. Your groceries will generally come from a local store, are personally shopped for by someone, and delivered (up your 6 flights of stairs in the apartment you are in that has no lift) right into your kitchen. Fantastic for those fifteen five litre water bottles.For those who haven’t tried it, keep an open mind and I will outline to you the reasons why I love online grocery shopping.
The retailers I have used both in the UK and Portugal (Tesco, Sainsbury's, Opodo and Continente) have eliminated the need to keep a shopping list. Past orders are saved in their system, making it easy to add items to the cart from the order history page. I usually just log on when I think of something, add it to my virtual cart and go off and have another cup of tea.
It is easier and more accurate with identifying and comparing cost per unit online. I can comparison shop and get a sensible purchase in the comfort of my own home (and nobody sees that you are only in your trackie with morning hair).
Items on sale are highlighted and categorized. I can browse the sales category and the “buy one, get one free” offers before I do anything else. I regularly save money with my food order and am generally able to avoid buying anything that I would not normally buy.
Order totals are calculated as I go, helping me stick to my budget and avoid the embarrassment of asking the checkout operator to put items back in store (yes, I’ve actually had to do that). Also, you can just log on to the site when you think of something that you need and easily add it to your vitrual cart, building a sensible thought out shopping list in the process.
We've all heard the money saving tip “don’t shop while hungry.” Online, there are no tempting aromas wafting from the bakery or strategically placed savouries begging to be taken home. It is just simply a matter of typing in the product you want and selecting how much of it you want.
Children seem to have uncontrollable impulses and many of us parents will do anything to avoid making a scene, including buying toys and goodies they don’t need. Shopping online takes care of this problem and you can even have them happily bouncing on your knee while checking out the wine specials.
Some online grocery shopping virgins I have talked to say that they are nervous that they will get two week old vegetables and the scraps from the butcher. I can honestly say that I have mostly had good experiences with this. Generally, the grocery store want your business and have a policy of choosing the freshest product available. Also, when the goods are delivered, you can easily refuse any items that are not up to your standard and they will deduct this from your bill. It has only ever happened once or twice with me. If your chosen product is not available at the time, the store provide an option where you can chose your preferred substitute.
Everyone knows that “time is money” but energy is also a hot commodity. I can get my shopping done from bed, while blogging, or in front of the television and relax while doing so. That is almost better than saving money!
