Supermarkets, how do you manage your shop and what would help it to be better

I have only been shopping on-line since before the pandemic as I live alone and have no transport, plus to go shopping in my wheelchair would cost me £30 in taxi fares. At the start of the pandemic the major issue was getting delivery slots as everyone jumped on the bandwagon, although disabled I could not get a priority delivery slot as my medical problems were not on the Government list. Over the past 6 months delivery slots have become more available so that is not so much of a problem. My main issue is that both Asda and Morrisions down here have their deliveries of fresh foods early in the morning but my order is put together overnight, as a result I frequently do not have the fresh stuff I ordered. I do not accept "substitutions" as they have sent me stuff that I would not use in the past resulting in both wasted money and food. My main remaining complaints are that the supermarkets have reduced the availability of products on-line and have also increased the prices of the products available on-line vesus in-store prices. In addition on-line shopping does not compare to the in-store experience as one cannot browse the shelves and therefore miss the opportunity for impulse buys etc. Now that bags are no longer available the delivery of shopping became a problem moving it from the door into my kitchen and then putting it away, after months I have now managed to get the delivery driver to leave me the crate so now when they deliver they drop off the full crate by the back door and take away the empty one.

Sainsbury's have delivered ours long before the pandemic. We're fortunate to have the dining table just inside the door and they will all bring the crates into it and, when Mr SW isn't there, unpack for me. I don't think they're supposed to for their own sakes but our drivers are lovely and know we never go anywhere anyway now.

I wonder if the price difference / non-offers are to do with time ie my offers all say until when they're available. An offer could end between my making the list and my delivery date. Or possibly place might come into it. i think most supermarkets have local offers and, since the pandemic began, our delivery is not always from our nearest store. In fact it amazes me how far they sometimes have to drive.

I pay an annual delivery fee and then it's free (for £40 worth or over) with one hour delivery slots.

Looks like I’m in a minority, I still like going to the shop, I hate on line shopping. But I plan my route round the shop so I’m not going back and forth, and limit how many aisles I’m going to explore. No browsing, targeted shopping. I also park either close to the shop entrance or by a trolley park so I don't have to walk far. And always use a trolley, no “I’m only going n for a few bits”. We all know it never works out like that!

I need to reply to this because I’ve always shopped with Tesco online and recently they stopped using plastic bags which I totally understand for the environment but I really struggled last week to get all the shopping out the cart by myself and it was such a challenge. It has put me off online shopping now.

I do my on-line shopping with ASDA, when they stopped using plastic bags I asked the delivery driver to leave the crate which he did, now each week they swap the crates over on a chair by my back door which makes life easier to take the shopping bit by bit into the kitchen.

I've been doing most of my shopping online since last March, I alternate between Sainsbury's and Morrisons. I try and book early morning slots because I seem to get longer use by dates/fresher fruit and veg. Morrisons in particular sometimes pop free things in with the order, I've had free fruit/veg/bread and once got free teabags and biscuits! Bringing the things in from the doorstep seems to vary from driver to driver - some have helped pack the shopping into my big bags for life on the doorstep, some just leave me to do it myself, occasionally they have brought the crates into the kitchen. This morning I think the driver could see me struggling a bit to get everything out of the crate on the doorstep and put the next crate on top of the empty one so it was a bit higher up, and ended up holding the crates up for me to unload! I also liked doing click and collect from Sainsbury's but they have stopped doing the early morning slots at my local store so I have gone back to deliveries. I miss going round the supermarket in person, the impulse buys and spotting new things, but when I've tried shopping in store now it seems like a much more stressful experience than pre-covid. I am wary of people who seem incapable of keeping a distance, and the checkout queues seem worse now. My local Sainsbury's has the handheld scanners which I use when I do go in, this is quicker and easier as it saves queueing/packing at the checkout. I always use the smaller trolleys so the bags are higher up, it would be impossible to haul full bags out of the big deep trolleys. My biggest problem shopping in store is when the thing you want is right at the back of the shelf, particularly the top shelf or even worse right at the back of the bottom shelf, I have to go hunting for an assistant to get the thing I want. I've got restricted shoulder movement so can't reach up very well and I can't get down on the floor. Online shopping at least solves that problem!

I have to admit I have been shopping on line with Tesco off and on for many years, but for the past 3 years have taken out a delivery saver package. I am so glad to have done this before the pandemic. I order a shop ever 6 days or so, and immediately book another slot. At the moment I have slots booked until the end of the month. I know it is an extra £6.99 a month but so worth while. If there is anything amiss or something I don't particularly like with the substitutions, it is taken away by the delivery driver and refunded and appears back in bank account within 2/3 days. I can thoroughly recommend them.🌸