Another reason I use the checkout… I bring my own bag to put items in and most want to look at bags as I leave which I have no issue with
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Have tried both Woolworths and Coles and they’re equally bad at this. Firstly, you need to shop in some cases several days before delivery so you are anticipating your needs. That also means that the specials you bought almost always become full-priced on delivery day. Secondly, many items just not delivered at all. Have later checked that there are plenty of the missing items at the relevant nearest supermarket (en route from warehouse) so lack of stock is a poor excuse. Thirdly, goods are substituted - often bizarrely. Branded items ordered become generic poor quality ones. Meat is never the size/quality of what you ordered.Thirdly, items are haphazardly packed - eggs packed in with cans of dog food? Amazingly some eggs broken (?!). Cold items not kept together. Fourthly, groceries are just dumped on front porch byvery unfriendly delivery drivers. In some cases leaving parts of someon else’s order so you have to hurriedly rifle through bags to make sure it’s all yours before the driver races off. In one instance the driver tried to give me a case (24 litres) of long life milk insisting it was in my order. I asked him to check the delivery docket to verify it was indeed absent. After hauling all of them into the kitchen (didn’t know what was in opaque bags until opening them) the driver waited while I hauled them all out again and back onto the truck. Will now only ever use online orders again if I am absolutely unable to shop personally.
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I absolutely agree about the amount of lead time an order needs. If I’m running low on milk… i need it today (MAYBE tomorrow)… not on Friday or next week.
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@draughtrider, I love this description of grocery shopping - ‘the ram-raid’. I’m sure plenty of us can relate to the feeling, and the Roy Morgan report I linked to in the original post echoes some of these sentiments too. I’ll add to this, some also do ‘The Meander’, mostly advised for Sunday mornings and late night shopping. ‘The Magic Eye’, those who can zone in on a special message from a jumble of colours and marketing messages to find a bargain.
@vax2000, @Khary, @debir, @grahroll - I appreciate you sharing your detailed and unique perspectives. The accessibility, logistical and other issues described here form a big part of the consumer experience for many of us, and anything that makes lives easier is going to be appreciated.
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@sydneydowers, @Pete_And - Thanks for the feedback, great to hear from the Community directly on your experiences with these services.
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@Fred, some excellent points raised that could easily turn into bigger topic discussions.
It leads to other questions. ‘What do we value’ - cost, quality, jobs and experiences with others (community values), all of the above? In which case, how do protect those values and keep things fair. For example, does it mean we create a rule about how many humans we keep in a process? Seems like some of those humans messing up the online orders aren’t helping our case, but what if those same people who picked the order had to deliver it?
What about ‘drone ownership rights’ for online grocery shopping. If we can’t control the method of ordering and delivery in a cost effective and accessible way, there could be a problem right? We might need our drones to be capable of shopping around to multiple outlets to preserve competition. Those with drone docks could reduce delivery fees (and so on).
Just thoughts, but if anyone wants to have a go at any ideas on values or some tenants to protect them, I’m sure it would be interesting reading for us all.
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All critically important questions, and far more wide-ranging than simply online grocery shopping. You could - and I would - argue that they more broadly relate to the kind of society we want to live in. Our voting record would indicate that we value profit and convenience above all.
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I was using Woolworths online when I first had to stop driving and was too ill to cope with a busy shopping Centre. The delivery charges back then were not too heavy and it sorted out the backbreaking problems of kitty litter and dog biscuits. I always found the delivery guys charming and helpful. However the delivery costs went up at the same time as the delivery window got more antisocial, and there is no way I use them now that I have taxi vouchers, and I would not trust any supermarket with picking my fresh fruit and vegetables.
The biggest disadvantage I found was that one had to pay for the order when the order was placed. As I do not get paid until a friday, that does create problems getting a delivery for a weekend, so I ended up using a credit card to shop early and get the delivery when I needed it. Woolworths cut down on the number of cheap options for deliveries so one had to place the order earlier and earlier, and the substitutions were rarely acceptable when my order turned up.
Would I go back to them? No way! Too many bad experiences, and I know that the depot where my deliveries came from do not carry the full range of goods advertised online, hence all the bad substitutions. I doubt that Amazon would change my shopping habits and I carry a months supply of non-perishables and a full freezer to overcome any temporary illness where I cannot get out myself.
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I’m a regular online grocery shopper, your post sums up my experience, meltam6554, I no longer buy fresh veggies at Coles online, because yeah, they give you the least freshest they can find, orders are very often not complete. So I shop between Coles online and my local IGA, my local IGA always have fresh vegetables. If Amazon can do better than my Coles experiences then I’ll definitely be a convert…
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If it proves to be of better service and quality than what a consumer can currently get in Australia I don’t see why it wouldn’t be successful. I believe that the reason it hasn’t taken off in Australia yet is that people’s experience is inferior to in-store shopping mainly due to who chooses which item goes into your trolley in terms of freshness, use by date etc. We tried this with both coles and woolies and didn’t continue with either.
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Amazon is not perfect. An American friend ordered some Christmas gifts for us via Amazon, a well known product featured in the press. In spite of the Amazon listing claiming genuine product shipped from the USA and not at a “too good to be true price”, what arrived were inferior knock-offs sent from China. We ordered the same product for her from another Amazon merchant and it was sent from Kentucky USA, and properly labelled.
It took a month and she got a full refund, we did not have to return the rubbish that was shipped, and the seller should have learnt an expensive and valuable lesson. Good on Amazon for taking care of their problem merchant. One would not expect such shoddy practices to make it through Amazon, but they do and probably always will.
Another aspect is that doing something in ones or tens or hundreds or manageable pilots are comparatively easy to get right. When it has to be rolled out at scale that is when the real problems become evident, and it is very hard to manage and monitor the supply chain at the best of times, but especially with perishables.
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I agree, however as a fellow long-term online shopper, I find Coles and Woolies are now much of a muchness as they both continue to make improvements. Which one I use for my weekly order depends on which has the best specials that week, as well as my need for items that are only available at one of them. I suspect the variable service reported by other commenters comes down to the particular store where their order is packed, as there is a designated store for each delivery area.
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I have done a weekly online shop at either Coles or Woolworths for the past few years as I’m unable to shop in-store, so I can correct you on the following:
You get the specials at the price they are at the time you order, even if they change by delivery day. This applies with both Coles and Woolworths and has done ever since I started ordering from them.
You can opt in or out of substitution (per item). Woolworths even enables you to make a comment for the packer (and I wish Coles would).
Cold items are always kept together as they are placed in the refrigerator/freezer in the delivery van.
Coles will bring your order into the house by default. Woolworths only to the door unless you request them to bring it inside, in which case it’s at the discretion of that driver.
There is a designated store where the order is picked/packed for each delivery area, so what is available or out-of-stock will depend on that store, not on your nearest store.
If you are unhappy with the delivery driver or anything else, make a complaint. The business can’t fix it if they don’t know about it.
.
Of course there are glitches, but overall, I’m reasonably satisfied with doing my grocery shopping online.
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Hiya fayelifar I have only done my shopping online when I have been too unwell to drive.
I have rarely ever had a problem, and when I did complain to Coles that the grapes ordered were sour, they promptly credited my account for the full amount, sent around fresh and edibile grapes and gave me a $20 credit off my next online order!! They apologised and said that they were pleased I reported the matter to them, encouraged me to do the same again if ever I was unsatisfied with anything.
Happily, the few times I have ordered my groceries online Coles have been extremely efficient.
The Delivery man carries all of my groceries into the house and places the bags on the kitchen bench, as Coles are aware of my back injury.
Cold items arrive very cold, and frozen goods are frozen solid.
I have never had any other issues with them, never received an incorrect order, and often receive free samples of new groceries to try for free.
I will continue to use Coles online grocery supplies when I am unable to drive.
Cheers Natalie 
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@fayelifar @njfking - glad to hear your experiences have been positive ones. Enabling comments for the packers is definitely a plus, I couldn’t imagine ordering things like avocados without it.
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I’m one of the 3% to use online shopping, and have tried Coles and Woolies.
I’ve used home delivery and now use click and collect.
I find the Coles website is easier to use.
Coles also has a dedicated parking area for click and collect customers, you call them on arrival, and within 5 minutes a friendly staff member arrives and packs your groceries in the car.
Woolies require you to find a spot to park, go into the store, wait at the cigarette counter and then they bring your groceries. You’re on your own to get your shopping to the car.
The quality of items has generally been very good from both stores. Any time there’s a problem with an item, a freecall to a dedicated number gets a credit in your account. This is easier than if I’d physically walked around the store, got home and found an unsatisfactory item - I’d have to go back to the store with the item and my receipt to get a refund.
Online shopping allows me to control my spending, carefully plan for what I need, and take advantage of supermarket specials. Home delivery requires more planning as spots fill fast, however click and collect can be done right up to the night before pick up.
I live in regional NSW, so others may have different experiences depending on their location.
I’d welcome the arrival of Amazon - nothing like a progressive US company to shake things up here.
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Just be aware the Masters chain was an attempt by Woolies to bring a major American hardware chain (Lowes) to Australia. Lowes never understood our market and thought we are like Americans, which is not always the case. Between them they failed execution at almost a perfect 100%. Neither ever accepted the basics they were getting wrong and continued on bull headedly doing the same ineffective marketing over and over.
Online will have an easier time of it since most of our on-line merchants have pretty sorrowful web sites compared to the US norm and we are usually starved for better ranges, but even Amazon will have a learning experience when they meet with our infrastructure and costs, and domestic transport and delivery realities, unless they build their own.
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