Online supermarket shopping UK - shop weekly from home

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As more and more supermarkets offer online shopping, online supermarket shopping is starting to become the norm for British households, especially those with full-time working parents with little speare time on their hands.

Online shopping also works fantastically well for disabled people who find supermarket shopping a real difficulty, or for pensioners who find it hard to get to the shops on a regular basis (although they may need some help from a friend or family member to get them started). It is worth paying the delivery charge for homes that do a large weekly shop, but single people may prefer to visit the supermarket in person as the fees can be quite a lot for one person to justify spending.

The services offered by supermarket websites vary in sophistication - some just give you the opportunity to find a store in your area and a contact email address while others allow you to select your goods, set up a shopping list, order the goods, set up a time and place for delivery and pay online. Supermarket websites offer: special deals; groceries; CDs, DVDs and games; household goods and toiletries; alcohol; fresh, frozen and tinned food; recipes; flowers; gifts such as chocolates or drinks gifts; and kitchen appliances. The Co-op (http://www.co-op.co.uk/) even has funeral services on their website. Some of the large supermarkets also offer banking, insurance, mobiles and utilities through their websites. Some let you use your loyalty card when shopping through their website.

Most online supermarket shopping websites will require you to register - this is so they can store your delivery details online and build up a profile of your regular shopping. They may also use the list for marketing information. Supermarket websites should have a privacy policy though which means that they do not give your personal information out to other agencies, but keep it secure and for their own use only. Do a postcode check to check that they deliver in your area before you register. Usually supermarkets offer next day delivery, or even the same day if you place your order in the morning. Some websites save your shopping as you go so it is still there if you lose your Internet connection or are interrupted. Some supermarkets will give you a substitute product if they don't have the one you want in stock.

There are different ways of doing supermarket shopping online. One way is to have a regular weekly order, and add extra items each week. Some websites will monitor your shopping and then build you a shopping list based on what you have bought from them so far. Another option is to browse through the online aisles and groceries and compile a new order each time. You need to choose your delivery time and date.

Some supermarkets will give you the choice of a two-hour slot. Sainsbury's (http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/) allow you to select food by recipe ideas - this means you click on a recipe you like the look of and then it will produce a shopping list for you based on that recipe. Select the item and quantity and when your online shopping basket is full, proceed to the checkout. You can pay driver directly if don't want to pay online. There is usually a delivery charge of about five pounds unless the order is over a certain amount.

© The Pink Fridge Online Magazine 2008 - Online Supermarket Shopping

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