[LINK] The Wheels Fell Off My Virtual Shopping Trolley in the Pandemic

[Jan Whitaker]

Huh. I find it very easy (after figuring out how it works the first 
time). I'm hooked. It would be different if you are a diversity or 
browser shopper, but I find the kept list of prior purchases extremely 
useful. I use Coles Click and Collect from a shop 2 minutes away. If 
it's ready for pickup (tip: use morning time blocks - afternoons are 
blow-outs and you may wait beyond your "reserved" time period), I can 
leave home and be back in around 10 minutes. I see you couldn't find a 
store near you. Yeah, I thought the same BUT mine is there if you know 
how to look for it. Go to the store's website, NOT the assumed delivery 
website, which is where the system seemed to start. If you do the 
selection of products starting in that store, the click and collect 
option should appear on checkout. Do a single item test to see. I then 
bookmarked that entry point instead of the generic Coles web address.

I think that *might* solve your delay problem. It people are going to 
the default 'delivery' store (we only have 2 in my area, but about 5 
Coles), they are all hitting the same store and overwhelming them. Try 
the trick of your local store and see if you can get collect more 
conveniently. I've had pick-up offers on the same day, but usually set 
it up the evening before for pick-up the next morning. Can even change 
the order until 1am before it's "locked in".

Their website design for product selection has lots of variability to 
search - Everything, Specials, Prior Purchases as targets, then about 
any letter string you want to enter in search. You can sort by price per 
unit or price per item, brand, store category like deli or kids or 
frozen, and I'm sure other aspects. You can even create a shopping list 
and then just select when you're ready to shop. I set up a list called 
Occasional Items to check (cat food for my ravens is on there, but 
that's another story) and it appears as one of the tabs.

I did find that Paypal slowed down the payment drop at the store a 
little, but direct debit card was no drama at all.

I haven't done delivery because I don't want to join their club or pay 
extra for that since they are so close. Gets the car out of the garage. 
And Collect to Boot is no charge for a minimum purchase of $50. If that 
is above my weekly shop 'budget', I just wait a couple days and it evens 
out over the month, or add things that I'll need anyway. Their online 
specials are often very good, too.

I'm sure the number of people doing this during lockdowns puts pressure 
on the stores. But so far the only bad experience I've had was missing 
the 4-6pm slot delivery time and never being told on the website that it 
was ready for collection, so I drove up and called for it. I suspect it 
was 'after work' or habitual 'buying for tea' people and understaffing 
for that time period.

Jan

On 11/09/2021 7:36 am, Tom Worthington wrote:
> It has taken me 18 months to get around to sign up for online grocery 
> shopping. While I have been purchasing complex electronic devices 
> online for a decade, it proved surprisingly difficult to buy basic 
> groceries that way. 
> https://blog.tomw.net.au/2021/09/shopping-for-groceries-online-in.html