>>easy ordering; spot-on delivery

Online retailing is becoming the next great battleground for grocery giants hell-bent on realising untapped growth potential. Our summer shopping survey reveals that attention to detail, availability and accuracy are key to securing a loyal customer base. The heat is on, says Ronan Hegarty

Ordered: 20.07.05 Delivered: 23.07.05
Time taken: 1 hour 5 min
Location: Belfast
Number of items delivered: 33
Out of stocks: 0
Substitutions: 0
Delivery charge: £5.99
Total Paid: £49.70Tesco picked up the latest Star Order award as it ticked all the right boxes for what online shopping should be about.
Grocery shopping online is supposed to take the hassle and aggravation out of the shopping experience.
However, all too often problems with ordering, delivery time and most importantly out of stocks and inappropriate substitutions create the opposite effect.
Our Belfast-based shopper admitted that having used the website before meant that he had little difficulty in getting to grips with Tesco’s ordering system and finding his way round the site. He was able to place his order in just over an hour and even though he was completing this at 8.20pm, he could have chosen a delivery time of noon the next day.
As it was, his order did arrive on time and he was delighted to receive all 33 items exactly as he had requested.
The delivery driver was pleasant and efficient. As the order was complete and without substitutions and our shopper had used the service before, there was little need for him to do anything more than hand over the shopping and get back on his way.
Our shopper did say that the receipt was poorly printed, which made it difficult to see his entire listing. This may have caused more of a problem had some of the items been missing or inaccurate.
While he was processing the order, he noted promotions on four of the lines on our shopping list. Red seedless grapes were reduced by £1 to £2.48/kg while there were also multibuy deals on own-label quiche lorraine and frozen garden peas as well as Parozone bleach.
Our shopper said that this had been his most hassle-free online shopping experience to date. He also added that he was likely to use this service more frequently as a result.

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