I am yet to buy a car, so I trialled the Safeway (or Woolworths) delivery service the other day. Safeway is located a good walking distance from my home, but I am the type of person who likes shopping once a fortnight, rather than doing it more regularly. Keeps my budget in check, and also allows me to plan my shopping. Which means buying loads of stuff, therefore transport is a problem.
I bought 16 bags worth of shopping yesterday, and tested out the delivery service. Here is what I thought.
The shopping itself
Woolworths has a great website, where you can shop online. I am a huge fan of shopping online, and I regularly make purchases online (e.g.: eBay). However, shopping for groceries online is a bit of a hassle. Surprisingly, I found using the website difficult - not because of its design characteristics, but rather I find it much easier seeing my food before buying. I have not fully tested out the site, but I hope there is a functionality which allows for keeping tabs of your favorite products thereby reducing your searching time (or remembering your previous shopping list). The site does not provide photos of all the products at a glance unless you click on individual items, which can get annoying. Overall, a novel site, but not for me at this stage.
The delivery
After the purchase, I advised the “check out chick” that I preferred delivery. It was quite easy, all bags are tagged and bar coded. My contact details are given, and the lady explained that delivery will occur “before 5pm today” (and I get a card with delivery information). This gave me ample time to get back home, before the goods arrived. I live in an apartment, so would have preferred the groceries to be dropped off at my level. Instead, I was told to get them from downstairs. Fair enough I guess. My expectations are high, I know. The delivery time was 4.30pm - so punctuality was maintained.
The cost of delivery was less than $5. Now doing the sums:
* Cost of a tram ticket for 2 hours (Zone 1): $3.50
* There was no way I could have brought 16 bags by myself, which meant a taxi was required.
So delivery is an economical option for those without private transport. A big tick for Safeway for keeping things affordable.
Inside tips
* When using the site, watch for the “specials” link at the top - which details all your savings. This is a great feature of the site.
* It gives you running totals, so you know how much you are spending. This is something you do not get while doing shopping physically.
*Delivery is a great option if you have loads to carry
* Watch out, delivery for purchases made online can be more expensive!
Suggestions
* I can see a major market for busy couples who would like their shopping delivered, particularly those living in inner city apartments. So make delivery to the door, rather than to the building.
* The delivery card does not have information on whom to contact if you do not get your goods, so this would be a good idea. You do not want customers left out in the cold when deliveries don’t come on time.
Rating - 8/10 (delivery was a great deal!)
I suspect delivery is subcontracted, and thank you for making it affordable. If you can deliver to people’s doors (incl. apartments) then it will really attract a lot of inner city dwellers. As for your website, things look good here - but consider incorporating pictures that are easily accessible instead of making us click on each product link.
