Wow, inflation

[Woody girl]

Or those people could just get it delivered. They’re not limited to the one shop.

Not everyone wants to order online, or indeed can.
Even my friend who orders for me when needed is constantly annoyed by items not being what was ordered.
Substitutions, poor quality , or items unavailable, having to wait in for a delivery.
Just because it works for some, it's not for everyone.
Besides, I'll reiterate, the point I was making, is that the co op is taking advantage of being the only supermarket around for 15 miles, and ripping customers off, by taking advantage of the fact.
Sometimes you just need a couple of things, and don't want to wait 3 or 4 days for things to be delivered.
We have already lost our bank, so need to travel 20 miles to do anything that you need to do face to face.
Buses are almost non existant now, i used to enjoy a trip into town to shop, Imagine loosing the supermarket because nobody shopped there.
It would be a disaster, especially for the elderly, or those without cars.

Life isn't always as simple as " order it online." It's what is causing the decline of bricks and mortar shops, and I think, is a lazy way to do things.
Imagine how difficult it would be to shop if the Internet went down, and you couldn't press a button for your needs!
Pandemonium!
Whatever did we do before online shopping?????

 

[Stew]

Maybe people don’t choose to but if the option is not be able to afford food by shopping local or being able to eat by ordering online, it seems a pretty obvious answer.
The things that Peter mentions arent easy to get round but this one is.
If people choose not to buy from somewhere cheaper then they do, no pun intended, pay the price for it.

 

[Toddy]

We do both. Shop locally, and order in, especially bulk purchases of foods like nuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, and dried such as tomato powder, potato powder and nutritional yeast flakes. Even ingredients for my tea, like hibiscus flowers, crystallised ginger and the like. They don't grow here, so buying in is the only way to obtain them.

It's a very diverse world now, but I'm appreciating not having to trail through innumerable shops looking for what to me are standard store cupboard items.

I can quietly sit and surf the net, pick what I choose, order it and it's neatly and cleanly delivered in a few hours (Amazon) or days.
No hassle.

If the net died tomorrow, then there would be a problem with the entire world and everybody's diet and shopping would be more limited, not just those who buy online.
Supermarket suppliers work online too, and local shops are usually either tied to buy from preferred suppliers (Spar, etc.,) or use local wholesalers...who again keep on top of things using the internet.

 

[British Red]

The problem is that you need to shop online to do that and WG has said a number of times that they won’t shop online.

Ah I hadn't read that. Each to their own

 

[British Red]

Life isn't always as simple as " order it online." It's what is causing the decline of bricks and mortar shops, and I think, is a lazy way to do things.
Imagine how difficult it would be to shop if the Internet went down, and you couldn't press a button for your needs!
Pandemonium!
Whatever did we do before online shopping?????

When I was a kid in a rural area we telephoned our orders in and the butcher, baker and green grocer delivered. We had catalogues for clothes and they too were delivered. Many people moaned about the advent of supermarkets because they killed off local tradespeople who delivered.

You are right that the internet is changing the face of shopping (although most supermarkets deliver from their bricks and mortar shops so ordering groceries doesn't affect the availability of those shops).

The reality is that its much cheaper to deliver directly to the consumer rather than deliver to a shop, pay rent, rates, staffing and electricity on that shop. So physical shops like the local co-op (or bookshop or clothes shop) have higher overheads and hence charge more. The choice is ours as a consumer.

 

[Macaroon]

I find it a little odd that nobody has mentioned the damage done to, and delays caused by, the multitude of delivery vehicles on the smaller country roads. Around me one has to use a variety of single track lanes on a daily basis and they mostly look like Flanders in 1918.

 

[British Red]

I find it a little odd that nobody has mentioned the damage done to, and delays caused by, the multitude of delivery vehicles on the smaller country roads. Around me one has to use a variety of single track lanes on a daily basis and they mostly look like Flanders in 1918.

Interesting. Around here internet shopping has hugely reduced traffic. One Amazon van is much better than forty or fifty people driving into town. One Sainsbury's van removes five or six car journeys. Much more eco friendly too which is nice.

 

[Toddy]

I live in what is really suburbia these days
The supermarket delivery vans are pretty much just like the old shop delivery ones, and take orders right through the two villages.
The wee fish van still comes through every Tuesday from Pittenweem, and works it's way around the streets at it's 'usual stops'. Folks wait and queue up to be served and buy fresh fish.
Saves an awful lot of individual journeys.
We used to have grocery vans who did a bi-weekly route, but they've long gone. Milanda vans

M

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

Interesting. Around here internet shopping has hugely reduced traffic. One Amazon van is much better than forty or fifty people driving into town. One Sainsbury's van removes five or six car journeys. Much more eco friendly too which is nice.

Not necessarily... perhaps overall it works in its favour, but many people tie up shopping with something else. So 1 car to the shop, then to another shop then home... vs van to your house then back to store, another van to your house then back + missed items/poor replacements etc...

I wouldn't say it's as clear cut an argument as the pro camp would make it out to be...

 

[Macaroon]

I'm neither pro nor anti, I can see the benefits daily to many folk, and also the drawbacks in a rural area like this. I personallywouldn't dream of on line food shopping, but do make frequent use of deliveries of many other things. I just found it interesting that it hadn't been mentioned so far.

 

[slowworm]

Home deliveries could be far more environmentally friendly if managed better. We put in a small M&S delivery recently and had 4 different deliveries. Similar with Amazon, I will carefully select a basket of items that all could be delivered together but again I'll get several different deliveries.

As for supermarket deliveries, they might remove 6 cars from the road but the van is likely to be driving more than 6 times the distance as they don't drive to one area and deliver but go all over the place as people decide on the slots not the supermarket.

I'll also add that it can be a right pain using supermarkets these days as there can be so many staff cluttering the isles picking people's orders!

 

[Stew]

Home deliveries could be far more environmentally friendly if managed better. We put in a small M&S delivery recently and had 4 different deliveries. Similar with Amazon, I will carefully select a basket of items that all could be delivered together but again I'll get several different deliveries.

As for supermarket deliveries, they might remove 6 cars from the road but the van is likely to be driving more than 6 times the distance as they don't drive to one area and deliver but go all over the place as people decide on the slots not the supermarket.

I'll also add that it can be a right pain using supermarkets these days as there can be so many staff cluttering the isles picking people's orders!

I think a lot of flexi slots for deliveries are so that orders can be grouped together in areas for deliveries. Our ‘window’ is a four hour slot so they can pick the best route for the day then we get a more definite idea of the time on the day.

 

[Stew]

Home deliveries could be far more environmentally friendly if managed better. We put in a small M&S delivery recently and had 4 different deliveries. Similar with Amazon, I will carefully select a basket of items that all could be delivered together but again I'll get several different deliveries.

As for supermarket deliveries, they might remove 6 cars from the road but the van is likely to be driving more than 6 times the distance as they don't drive to one area and deliver but go all over the place as people decide on the slots not the supermarket.

I'll also add that it can be a right pain using supermarkets these days as there can be so many staff cluttering the isles picking people's orders!

It’s also interesting about the staff picking orders cluttering. Is that no different to someone coming and picking their own? I would argue it’s more efficient for store space as they get aisle locations etc.

 

[Toddy]

I use the flexi slot for deliveries too. Funny enough the van arrives in the street and usually has at least four deliveries on it for folks in this street.

M

 

[slowworm]

It’s also interesting about the staff picking orders cluttering. Is that no different to someone coming and picking their own? I would argue it’s more efficient for store space as they get aisle locations etc.

My comment was a bit tongue in cheek. However I tend to go shopping when the shops used to be mostly empty but now they are full of staff picking for home deliveries. They seem to pick for six customers at a time and their trolleys are much bigger and some staff can be a bit rude as they often seem to be in a rush. I'm always polite to them as I used to work in retail myself and it's not great but it can be off putting.

As for batching up deliveries, I can see that working in built up areas but not the countryside where I and Woody girl live. I hardly see a supermarket delivery down our road and when I do it's been when a holiday home is let and multiple deliveries from different supermarkets turn up - so quite the opposite.

 

[Scottieoutdoors]

I just think all people should be banned from everywhere I go unless I say so...

 

[Woody girl]

Finaly ran out of white sugar,..not that I use much except for preserving. Last time I bought it, it was 60p a bag, now £1.00. So on that alone my home preserving to save cash has almost doubled in cost.

 

[billycoen]

Whatever did we do before online shopping?????

Me nan used to get all the shopping from town,3 full carrier bags on each arm....