I am a nerd from way back. If there's a way to do something that involves spreadsheets or a computer, I've probably tried it. So it should come as no surprise that when supermarket chain Coles finally opened online shopping in my city I was ready to jump right in. Online grocery shopping (via Coles and rival Woolworths, that is) has been available in the eastern states of Australia for a while now, but Adelaide is kind of in the middle of the country (along the southern coast - look for the missing chunk of land) and for reasons completely unfathomable to us Croweaters, we're generally considered a 'backwater' when it comes to things like Aldi, Costco (who are launching - or have already launched? - in Oz soon, but nowhere near me!) and concerts (you should have seen the hullabaloo our new Ikea store caused a couple of years ago!) There are a couple of companies who offer a sort of random type of online grocery experience but these are generally the produce-only sites, or their prices are horrendous, with nowhere near the range of products a major national chain could sustain.
One of the main points that tipped the scale for me this week was that Coles Online matches catalogue prices (and for the most part, regular store prices) - which sounds like a no-brainer but isn't. Free delivery (at least for another couple of weeks) rounded everything off nicely. One niggly sticking-point? Multi-buys (2 for $4, buy 3 get 1 free etc) aren't honored online. I'm reserving judgment on that one - if I'm continually missing out on great specials then there won't be much point in continuing, but at least for this initial shopping 'trip', which consisted mostly of meat, produce and key basics, it was all good.
So what about the quality? Well, since each item is hand-selected from your nearest store's shelves (or so the website tells me), it's just like you walked in there and picked the items yourself. The meat looks great, the produce excellent and exactly as represented online. Everything looks wonderful!
Meat and produce prices are supplied as a 'pretty accurate guesstimation' online. While beef mince (ground beef) might be represented in 500g (a pound-ish) packages, the final price is dependent on the actual weight of product in the package - so if your mince is labelled 435g but is priced at $5 pkg/$10kg online, you only pay for 435g, not the stated 500g price, if that makes sense. Ditto for loose vegies and fruit (prices are adjusted when the order is packaged and you are charged accordingly, which means your total could differ slighly from the 'online checkout price') Another example: Royal Gala apples were listed two ways online - as a 'per kilo' price, and as a rough 'each' price (in this case, 80c). I didn't pay 80c for each of my 6 apples, but whatever the equivalent was in price-per-kilo (I just checked - each apple averages at 72c, in case you were wondering, LOL). Both of the 'produce-only' online companies I've played with before stick with a standard 'each' price - totally unacceptable to this cynic who would convince herself she was being given weeny little apples on purpose. Not so with Coles Online.
My order today was large - $222 for 59 items (including a $22 'seasonal vegetable box' that I forgot to remove after individually adding my produce needs elsewhere in the order, LOL). But of that, I ended up with about 10 days worth of meat (possibly 2 weeks worth, if I stretch it creatively) and all the fruit and veg we'll need for probably 3 weeks. It is under our budget (which is somewhat large-ish at Talented Hubby's suggestion) by quite a lot, if you average it all out and approximate what a month's worth of groceries would total based on what we got today. There was even a sample packet and mini cookbook - totally an advertising ploy, but nice nonetheless!
Would we do it again? The proof will be in the pudding, or as the case may be, in the quality of the meat (my standard guage for worthiness/value, LOL) If the meat was horrible and stringy (I can't see why, it looks beautiful) or if the milk was delivered really close to the use by date (it wasn't) or if the vegies looked a bit wilty (they don't), then probably not. The convenience was a big plus however, and though it might seem strange doing an online grocery shopping session when we have a large, fully-stocked Woolworths right down the street, I'm quite liking the idea that I now have options when it comes to where I can shop. I can now buy the loss leaders and other bulky items from Coles and have them delivered, whereas before, I'd have to toss the catalogue right in the recycling bin because I had no way of getting all those groceries home. And of course I'll still have access to the local supermarket for impromptu trips. Or the other way around, for that matter! It will only take one or two loss leaders, bought in bulk to the stated maximums, to justify the Coles delivery fee once it begins being charged, and I can do my regular shopping locally. Options folks! I love options!
P.S. Vegetable/salad/side dish recipes please? LOL. I see a lot of soup in our future!
One of the main points that tipped the scale for me this week was that Coles Online matches catalogue prices (and for the most part, regular store prices) - which sounds like a no-brainer but isn't. Free delivery (at least for another couple of weeks) rounded everything off nicely. One niggly sticking-point? Multi-buys (2 for $4, buy 3 get 1 free etc) aren't honored online. I'm reserving judgment on that one - if I'm continually missing out on great specials then there won't be much point in continuing, but at least for this initial shopping 'trip', which consisted mostly of meat, produce and key basics, it was all good.
So what about the quality? Well, since each item is hand-selected from your nearest store's shelves (or so the website tells me), it's just like you walked in there and picked the items yourself. The meat looks great, the produce excellent and exactly as represented online. Everything looks wonderful!
Meat and produce prices are supplied as a 'pretty accurate guesstimation' online. While beef mince (ground beef) might be represented in 500g (a pound-ish) packages, the final price is dependent on the actual weight of product in the package - so if your mince is labelled 435g but is priced at $5 pkg/$10kg online, you only pay for 435g, not the stated 500g price, if that makes sense. Ditto for loose vegies and fruit (prices are adjusted when the order is packaged and you are charged accordingly, which means your total could differ slighly from the 'online checkout price') Another example: Royal Gala apples were listed two ways online - as a 'per kilo' price, and as a rough 'each' price (in this case, 80c). I didn't pay 80c for each of my 6 apples, but whatever the equivalent was in price-per-kilo (I just checked - each apple averages at 72c, in case you were wondering, LOL). Both of the 'produce-only' online companies I've played with before stick with a standard 'each' price - totally unacceptable to this cynic who would convince herself she was being given weeny little apples on purpose. Not so with Coles Online.
My order today was large - $222 for 59 items (including a $22 'seasonal vegetable box' that I forgot to remove after individually adding my produce needs elsewhere in the order, LOL). But of that, I ended up with about 10 days worth of meat (possibly 2 weeks worth, if I stretch it creatively) and all the fruit and veg we'll need for probably 3 weeks. It is under our budget (which is somewhat large-ish at Talented Hubby's suggestion) by quite a lot, if you average it all out and approximate what a month's worth of groceries would total based on what we got today. There was even a sample packet and mini cookbook - totally an advertising ploy, but nice nonetheless!
Would we do it again? The proof will be in the pudding, or as the case may be, in the quality of the meat (my standard guage for worthiness/value, LOL) If the meat was horrible and stringy (I can't see why, it looks beautiful) or if the milk was delivered really close to the use by date (it wasn't) or if the vegies looked a bit wilty (they don't), then probably not. The convenience was a big plus however, and though it might seem strange doing an online grocery shopping session when we have a large, fully-stocked Woolworths right down the street, I'm quite liking the idea that I now have options when it comes to where I can shop. I can now buy the loss leaders and other bulky items from Coles and have them delivered, whereas before, I'd have to toss the catalogue right in the recycling bin because I had no way of getting all those groceries home. And of course I'll still have access to the local supermarket for impromptu trips. Or the other way around, for that matter! It will only take one or two loss leaders, bought in bulk to the stated maximums, to justify the Coles delivery fee once it begins being charged, and I can do my regular shopping locally. Options folks! I love options!
P.S. Vegetable/salad/side dish recipes please? LOL. I see a lot of soup in our future!
2 comments:
My closest Coles is the Norwood one where I work, and we're not online yet, won't be for a couple of weeks I've heard. Effectively cancelling the free delivery peroid for me. Bugger! Mostly I prefer to wander the store with my list, picking, substituting, deciding against this or that item, but in the really cold, wet, windy months an occasional online shop would be great.
Hi,
Followed a link here from Mel's blog : )
I used to be a regular online shopper. Canberra being similar to how you describe Adelaide as backwater slow to get these concepts ... etc. Woolworths was our only option.
I did find good value in meat as we were usually delivered a bigger quantity than ordered Eg order 500g get 560g or what ever was closest but over. I did eventually cotton on though that the online prices were not always the same as the store shelf prices, and the same variety as store shopping wasn't available. At the time we were doing it the convenience won out for us but we were paying more for that.
I am off to further peruse your blog now. : )
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