Despite a slightly sluggish website that pushed total ordering time up to nearly 40 minutes, Asda squeaked past rivals to top our latest Online 33.
The speed of the site caused “some slight frustration” for our shopper, but minimal and “very close” substitutions – meant “all told I was rather impressed” they said.
A friendly and helpful delivery driver also helped make Asda’s overall online shopping experience a positive one. The order arrived at one minute past the start of the selected window.
By contrast, Amazon’s “very slick and easy to use” website offered fast but poor search results. Searches did not recommend closely related items as our shopper had expected, indeed many were “totally irrelevant”. And the offers were not shown alongside items; rather before the shopping mission had truly begun.
But it was more fundamental failings that meant Amazon came bottom in our survey (despite being second only to Asda in terms of price). Not only was availability poor, with only 27 of the 33 items available, no alternatives were offered at the checkout, and no substitutions arrived for other items that couldn’t be delivered, just notification of a refund. What’s more, the delivery was a disappointing 45 minutes late.
Such major issues were absent among the other supermarkets ranked. Availability was broadly good – Tesco the worst after Amazon with three items not available to order. But for some inexplicable reason, Waitrose only supplied 25 items. Only at Morrisons and Asda were all suggested substitutions accepted.
The range of alternative juices offered by Waitrose were “much more expensive”. And the regular hash browns at Sainsbury’s were no replacement for the cauliflower ones wanted.
Broadly, drivers were well regarded – except Amazon’s late-running one. Politeness and smiles were common, though Sainsbury’s driver was prompt but “not very proactive”. Details about substitutions had to be asked fro by the customer, but at least the response was accurate and comprehensive.
Some issues unique to online grocery shopping are yet to ironed out by retailers.
Several items in the order from Sainsbury’s, which was ranked third, had short dates – which isn’t such an issue when shopping in store. There were also complaints against Morrisons about the lack of a bagless delivery option.
But these were minor issues that didn’t drive those retailers out of the top half of the ranking. As the cost of living crisis bites, it is notable that, broadly speaking, the cheaper shops scored more highly – with the exception of Amazon, which was late and difficult to use.
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