2/19/09

I dream of.....

Yep seriously, I dream of grocery store home delivery vans!

Actually I yearn deeply for one of these to appear as if by magic in rural Okieland. In reality though, I am more likely to bump into Brad Pitt first, he is an Okie after all!!

Let's consider what we know about me....

1. I love to shop

2. I'm very rarely away from a computer, my netbook is always on me!

3. I am all about choice, value and saving time

4. I think the internet is the best thing EVER invented

5. I HATE crowded stores and having wait in line to checkout

6. I don't like having to carry my groceries indoors

So there you have it, this was my idea of heaven when it was first offered in England and I jumped aboard with glee.

I would just go online weekly and shop for all my groceries, find the best deals and choices. I even had favourite shopping lists stored on their sites, so with a few clicks I was often done. A delivery time was scheduled to suit my busy life, usually after I got home from work. The van would pull up and the lovely delivery man would carry all my bags right into the kitchen for me. This also enabled me to order the heavy stuff like bottles of water and drink, that I hated to have to carry. Almost as blissful as a day at a Spa!!

The two stores pictured were the ones I ordered from weekly, sometimes I would order differing things from both. The charge in 2005 when I left was 3 British Pounds, it would have cost me as much in petrol to drive to the stores. I am sure it's higher now, but I would still pay for this service.

The Hubster has said he thinks this service would really go over where we live, because we are in a more rural area, with an aging population. And trust me, once you've experienced this level of convenience it's hard to go back!! No doubt that's why I miss them sooo much, when you have a busy life this service is truly a god-send.

So my questions are: if you're in the UK do you use them and how much is it now? If you're elsewhere in the USA or World, do you have this service in your area, or is it just a British thing??

33 comments:

Troy said...

Hi Sarah, Mrs Troy loves the Tesco Home Delivery as she hates going round the busy stores. The delivery price varies between GBP3.00 and GBP6.00 depending how far ahead you book it. Mrs Troy seems to spend a lot of time (on my computer!) doing the ordering so I went out and bought myself a netbook too.
I don't think they cover the more rural areas.

Mary (Bookfan) said...

We have PeaPod! I haven't used it in my city but my daughters use it in Chicago. They love it.

Anonymous said...

I'm not in England, but my sister is and she often orders online from Tesco's.

I would love love love to have this service over here. In fact, you can order online at a few supermarket's in Sweden. I'm just hoping that it will catch on big time!

And oh - I would love to have a Waitrose here... Sigh.

Melessa Gregg said...

Bigger US cities have it, I would LOVE to see here in OK.

Daryl said...

Here in NYC there's FreshDirect online ... you shop, they deliver ... they also save my shopping lists and they have a membership fee of $50 a year which covers their fuel surcharge (which is added to non member bills)AND you can reserve a specific delivery time so that if that time is filled you still will get your delivery then.

They are wonderful with one exception ... they dont offer as big a choice of brands and sizes of products as I would like .. so for something Husband still makes a weekly walk to the market.

I dont shop for food .. I dont do grocery shopping (cant deal with the narrow aisles and crowds in our NOT supermarket) but for any other form of the sport, I am so there

Anonymous said...

I have heard that there is a store (or stores?) in Tulsa that have online shopping. They don't deliver but you can order your stuff online and they will have it bagged and ready for you to pick up when you get to the store.

I don't know if I would ever use a service like that. I don't mind going grocery shopping. I do try to go early before the crowds get there.

Srg said...

Up here in the northeast we have Peapod and I have to admit, they are pretty convenient. But they don't have as big a selection as the physical store and we tend to buy a lot of organic foods that they don't supply. Now if Whole Foods started delivering I'd be all up for that!

Victoria - Florence and Mary said...

A friend has just discovered online grocery shopping and has nothing but good things to say about it!

I certainly know that when I move home and into what is likely to be a flat I will be using the online service! Much rather a delivery man lugs the shopping up the stairs than me! ;o)

Victoria x

Amanda said...

ohh that would be the best thing ever!

I hate taking my two toddlers with me to the store. It isn't fun. They try my patients everytime.
It would be worth every penny to have groceries delivered!

Isn't Brad Pitt from Springfield MO?

Jill of All Trades said...

I would love home delivery too and probably could do it but the problem is I'm never home to receive it. I hate going to the grocery and seem to have to be there nearly every day. Yuck.

Unknown said...

Amanda - he was born in Shawnee, OK in 1963....but he grew up in MO.

Troy - good to know it hasn't gone up in price! How's the netbook?

Lady Fi - yes big sigh Waitrose!

Mary & Srg - never heard of Peapod

Daryl - that sounds like a good deal and how nuce of hubby

Lynn - ah but it's the delivery bit that's the key for me :-)

Thanks for your comments everyone

Melinda said...

Wouldn't that just be heavenly! I have to drive a good 25 min.to the nearest Wal-Mart from where I live and I would seriously pay to have someone else do all that shopping for me.

Anonymous said...

Oh Tescos Home Delivery...music to my ears.

Anonymous said...

There was a newspaper article about 5 years ago that discussed home deliveries on Oahu. Don't know if they are still in business.

At any rate, hubby would kill me if I signed up, because we live just 5 minutes from the supermarket. Yeah, I know, it is a hassle to shop, but...

Sassy Britches said...

I seriously had this on my list to check into this week! I know we have PeaPod, but I don't know exactly to where they will deliver. And I WANT Whole Foods to do this, although from reading your comments, I gather they do not?

Kay said...

We have something exactly like this in Illinois called Peapods (supermarket home deliveries). Made sense to me for working people but I don't know for sure if it's caught on.

Kay said...

Ooops! I just noticed other people mentioned the Peapods thing, too.

LHA said...

Despite my rather impressive levels of laziness, I don't think I'd like this. It removes any unexpected surprise in the supermarket. You often see something you forgot you even wanted or get inspiration for a special meal while wandering the aisles. However, this is a double edged sword because you end up spending more that way!

Smocha said...

I LOVED this while I was in England. The only thing is, I never knew if I was supposed to tip them or not.

At Sainsburys ,if you ordered over 100 pounds (money..not weight) ,delivery was free.

There's a store in Chicagoland where you can order groceries by mail.

http://caputos.samsbiz.com/

I have to shop there sometimes for Chicago roast beef:)

Anonymous said...

We had it in Minneapolis when I lived there but I never tried it; now that I live in a tiny cupboard in England it would make no sense for me to do this so I just pop to Sainsbury's or M&S every few days, both within 2 blocks of me. There's just no where to put more food than I can carry in two bags!

Anonymous said...

Like Daryl says, Fresh Direct is a pretty good option here in New York. And - unlike the UK equivalents - they know when they're going to be out of something, and so you don't end up with replacements that are completely unsuitable. Cherry tomatoes have their place, for instance, but they're no good if you're stuffing them! So Fresh Direct avoids that. But Ocado, Tesco, Sainsburys et al definitely have better choice!

Silverback said...

Having worked for ASDA for 25 yrs, I couldn't possibly use Tesco's Home Delivery...now could I ??!!!!

Actually I've never used any home delivery service as I still like to pick my own items while I have the health and time to do so. It's a great service for disabled and older people of course but they often deliver substitute items if your first choice isn't available and they can be way off the mark.

And when you when you can't get to the shelves due to a Home Delivery staff member with a cart full of someone else's items, then I mutter a few choice words.

Jan said...

I had a Tesco delivery today - I ordered last night and the other half was home to receive it so I came home to Chicken and mushroom pie with chunkie chips and mushy peas followed by apple crumble and custard yum !
Sitting here watching Masterchef and lolling in front of the 'puter
now

Unknown said...

We are about 25 miles from the nearest supermarker like some of you are.

Jan - are you trying to make me hate you!? ;-)

Kris said...

Many of my American friends in Oxford who don't have cars use Tesco home deliver. They say it's the best thing since sliced bread and only costs about 5 or 6 pounds. They keep telling me to give it a go. I'm near ready to get started with it, such a great idea.

Almost American said...

My question is how much does one tip the delivery person?

We have Peapod here too (that's the delivery brand of Stop & Shop/Giant supermarkets.) Apparently they don't offer as large a range of items as they do in the store.

Our local supermarket is only 5 miles away, and we both like to browse. Although we go to the store with a list in mind, sometimes that changes somewhat when we get there.

BJ's warehouse store is more like 20 miles away and when we go there we obviously buy in bulk so we only need to go every few months. (Thank goodness for all our basement space!)

My brother in London uses Tesco's delivery service.

M said...

My sister uses Tesco and it is about an extra five pounds but worth every penny! I would love it here, I despise supermarkets!

Sue McGettigan said...

Do they have a service where someone brings in the bags, cooks the dinner, cleans the fridge out and does the dishes? I'm up for that one :)

Silverback said...

I think that's called a husband, Sue.

(said with all the knowledge of being a single man)

Almost American said...

I think Sue would be interested in a personal chef but at prices like this I think I'll give it a miss:


Standard: Includes 5 entrées (4 servings each) with side dishes. Will feed singles for one month (20 meals), couples for two weeks (10 meals) and a family of four for one week (5 meals).
$300.00 plus groceries

Janet said...

Oh I wish! My nearest grocery store is 16 miles away so it would be a great to get delivery.

Snippety Gibbet said...

I'd love to have this done as well. I see the little vans driving around and wonder who the heck can afford such luxury.

Polish Punk Chick said...

Just curious, have you experienced the American staple that is Costco yet? Or Sam's Club? Your thoughts would be welcome, if you had.