Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Yes, I did buy groceries on line.
The experience is overall good, it gives me freedom, the merchandise was not bad either.
The only negative was unexpected delivery time, prior to my arrival back home, where the stuff was just sitting out there and got a bit spoiled...

No. I prefer to select my own produce.

I recently had foot surgery so having this service (Safeway.com) was great! The delivery personnel brought my groceries right up to my kitchen counter.

And, they offer period free delivery specials which I love!

However, the downside was the produce: This part of the system needs to be fixed, but they were quick on the credits to my account!

We had a great one in the Atlanta area for a couple of years.
Good points:
1. Delivery was scheduled within a 1-hour window and was always on time.
2. There was a complete money back guarantee.
3. Once you learned the process, it was pretty quick to place an order.
4. The company we had was VERY customer-oriented. Once they brought double the number of steaks I ordered and let me keep the extras for free.

Negative points:
1. As Jay and Randall have said, you don't get to pick out your produce and meat. But then I just went to the market for those things.
2. Available delivery windows were usually at least 36 hours out, so this service did not work for things you needed right away, like the proverbial loaf of bread or gallon of milk
3. The selection was very basic--limited ethnic, gourmet, and health foods. Sometimes the size I preferred was not available.
4. The learning curve is a bit long. The first couple of times it took me nearly an hour to complete the order.

Overall I liked having this service available and was disappointed when they folded. I used it maybe 2-3 times a month.

Hope this helps.

Polly

I live in Australia but use an English online grocer called www.ocado.com to buy stuff to send to my grandmother.

She's 98, so she's almost always at home to accept delivery.

Mostly I buy things that are branded and I know they will be OK. Sometimes I buy unbranded fresh produce such as fruit in season which I hope will be OK - her feedback is that the product is always fine and the delivery service is brilliant - you can request the delivery time +_60 minutes. Can't do that when I go shopping myself.

I don't shop online here because I like to see what I'm getting.

I think the difference between services that last and those that fail are simply:

1. The good ones get the delivery service totally nailed.
2. They also supply indisputably high quality product and have a no-questions-asked product replacement policy-so the trust factor starts high and remains high.

Hope that helps.

ChrisB