Where online grocery shopping does not deliver

Number of times praise was heard for online grocery shopping: 67 Number of hours spent online filling grocery baskets: 5 Number of attempts to validate online basket: 2 Number of times online groceries delivered to door: 0 *

I heard the ultimate time and energy saving thing to do was to get grocery shopping done online. Supposedly, you can get it done 24/7 in just a few clicks. So many people swear by it and rejoice in having been off grocery store visits for months. I thought I would jump on that bandwaggon and save myself an hour and a half at the store every week. I started by downloading the cool shopping app from my store. It all looked nice and practical at first, but on second thoughts severe limitations appeared in terms of cost and convenience:

1. not all products are eligible for home delivery, such as diapers

2. home delivery shopping does not qualify for any of the in-store discounts

3. minimum purchase to qualify for delivery is 70 bucks AND they obviously charge a delivery fee

When confronted with these facts, online grocery shopping enthusiasts readily admit having to shop from three different stores to make sure they get all needed items, and some even set-up a round robin routine over several weeks to make sure they get all their supplies on regular basis. But, they insist, it's so worth the part were you don't go to the store and carry all your stuff.

I just stuck to my store-going habits until I got a little sick and decided I was ready to pay for the priviledge of not hauling my butt to the store. That's when I found out about the last catch:

4. delay between order and actual delivery is one week.

I suppose that's not an issue once you've eased into doing this routinely, but it's a joke for the one-timer.

So, basically, online grocery shopping is for those who are ready to adopt it as a way of life. 

* Yes, I've been reading 3rd Bridget Jones book**

** Obscure blog for self entertainment as much as others'