Online Christmas Grocery Shopping in the U.K.
Author: Sara Flack
Published: 2012/12/07 - Updated: 2013/06/02
Contents: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Related Publications
Synopsis: Christmas grocery shopping made easier for people with physical and mobility problems which prevent them getting to the supermarket.
Introduction
Let your shopping come to you this winter. Christmas shopping sounds like fun but the reality is that for many people it turns out to be nothing but stressful. Sometimes we don't have the time, energy or physical ability to get to the supermarket, especially not at this time of year where the isles and checkouts are crammed with shoppers. This is too true for anyone suffering with mobility issues, but we've got a way to beat the stress.Main Content
MySupermarket allows you to shop online at one of the 5 big UK supermarkets and arrange home delivery but it compares prices and recommends ways to save at the same time. You shop online so you can avoid the crowds and arrange home delivery to your home so you don't have to attempt to drag your heavy shopping home with you. You also don't need us to tell you how much every penny saved can help stretch living allowances. With welfare cutbacks and increasing living costs it can be near on impossible to keep within budget at this time of year. This site is not only a logistical help but it allows you to control your grocery spending, and can even help reduce it.
mySupermarket is totally free and it's independent from the supermarkets so it doesn't care where you shop as long as you get good value for money. To get started you need to set up your personal account, choose a supermarket and start filling your basket with your shopping list. You can search for items by clicking through the shelves on the top tool bar or you can use the search box at the top of the screen. If you already have favorites in your regular online supermarket then you can copy these into your mySupermarket account with just 1 click. For speed you can also use the quick-shop notepad. All you have to do is type in the item (like bread, milk etc), click 'find' and it will bring up all the options available. mySupermarket shows you the overall price of the product but it also breaks everything down into units so it's easier to see how much things are really costing. Sometimes it can be cheaper to buy 2 small milks instead of 1 large one. You can sort the suggestions by price, price per unit and popularity. If the product you're looking at is branded then you can see the price in all the supermarkets and if it's an own brand product mySupermarket will show you price against a similar own brand product in the other stores.
Here's an example of Tesco 1% milk (4 pints). It looks like a good offer at 2 for 2.00 instead of 1.29 each and the price per 100ml is 5.7p reduced to 4.4p but when I open the product page I can see that actually Asda and Sainsbury's normally sell their own 1% 4 pint bottle at this reduced price anyway. As you add items to your basket the system calculates your filled basket across all the supermarkets and if at any point you see a basket coming out cheaper then you can switch supermarkets to the cheaper store and your basket will follow you.
Now for the best bit, when you're happy with your filled basket you click on the delivery button and all the available slots and charges come up. These slots and charges are the exact same as the ones you would find on the supermarket own sites so there's no added cost here. All you do is click on your preferred slot and then click on the checkout button and your basket transfers to the supermarkets checkout so you can pay and complete your order. No more fighting your way through supermarket crowds.