This suggests that online shopping items are cheaper than in-store items?
I think it's more that they have to pay to bring it to you.
Dude, if you’re drinking Nescafe coffee you have absolutley no room to talk! 😀
That was the point. Even drinking that shite was better without UHT. Besides, it's difficult to pop out to the shops when you're 2 weeks from port in the middle of the Pacific. You might get a special luggage allowance but you still need to get it up the ladder and a cafetiere in your baggage is asking to be broken. (aeropress wasn't about then).
How much do you think she should be paying out of her state pension ?
How about they just actually deliver what they took her money for?
because there's a higher cost of doing that. The service, as offered, gives extremely cheap selection and supply of your groceries with the odd mistake/substitution. For the vast majority of the public, thats pretty much perfect. The alternate might be a service which costs 2-3x as much, and gets it bang on every time. That might be better for your mum, but worse for pretty much everyone else.
More UHT for me then! Milky milky! lovely.
Even drinking that shite was better without UHT.
You should go to the US, home of the long-life "non-dairy creamer." 🤮
the online grocery services are actually subsidised by shoppers who go to the store,
This suggests that online shopping items are cheaper than in-store items?
What it means is that what supermarkets charge for home delivery comes nowhere near the cost of providing that home delivery. It's simply not possible to pay a picker, a driver, run software systems, lease, repair crash damage and fuel a van for the price that supermarkets charge. Therefore the cost of providing that is included in the cost of every item in the store so shoppers who go to the store and pick their own shopping are subsidising the online shoppers.
The supermarkets could close down home delivery tomorrow, reduce their store prices and still make the same profit.
The only thing that stops a shop quitting home delivery is the fear that all the customers would go to a shop that continues to home deliver.
The supermarkets could close down home delivery tomorrow, reduce their store prices and still make the same profit.
its not quite as simple as that. Home delivery and physical shop are co-dependent. The online shopping keeps some stores open by providing a need for it as a localised hub. Its a bit like business class and economy class seats on a plane. Business class provides all the profit, but you can't run an airline as business only because someone needs to fill the rest of the plane up so they can run regularly
They can’t afford [toy] when it’s on offer in July but they can afford to pay over RRP on December 20th? If as you say they’re “on the look out all year round for discounts” then, well, that’s exactly what he was doing, no?
I don't think you have kids but predicting what they'll want for Christmas any earlier than about 15th Dec is a total fool's errand. Now, you can counter-argue that in predicting and buying up in advance he's taking the risk that he's going to get it wrong but in breadline Britain that's not a luxury hard-up parents have, to buy stuff they aren't sure their kids want 6 months in advance.
And yes, the other easy answer is to say 'well just don't buy it then' but again, I don't think you have kids?
There’s always an alternative to UHT:
It says "long life" on the carton so presumably it is UHT.
I bet it doesn't taste half as nice as fresh camel's milk.
It doesn't apper to be in a fridge, so presumably it is UHT.
UHT Camels milk, I'm tempted to try some.
UHT Camels milk
Would that be one lump or two?
What it means is that what supermarkets charge for home delivery comes nowhere near the cost of providing that home delivery.
Can easily believe this. Was on holiday in probably the most difficult to get to part of the Lakes on holiday last week and got 2 ASDA orders delivered directly to our tent door for the princely sum of £2 picking fee plus £2.50 delivery.
It was a 1.5hr round trip to ASDA. Absolutely mind-blowing that you can get supermarket price and quality food delivered to a tent in the middle of nowhere with less than 12 hours notice for the price of a pint in the local pub.
Since we're on the subject of supermarket deliveries I'll leave this here
It was a 1.5hr round trip to ASDA. Absolutely mind-blowing that you can get supermarket price and quality food delivered to a tent in the middle of nowhere with less than 12 hours notice for the price of a pint in the local pub.
You wouldn't be the only one on the route.
Crazy Dutch would all drink fresh cows milk for lunch** but ask for it in your coffee instead of weird yellow creamer and you’d get some right funny looks.
** and eat bread with hundreds and thousands on.
** and eat bread with hundreds and thousands on.
Hagelslag is amazing by the spoonful - I never bothered with the bread.
UHT Camels milk
Would that be one lump or two?
Oh, jolly well done! 🙂
More milk
(I don't know how to get the youtube links in properly, sorry.)
Before I left in 2010, I was a home shopping delivery driver for a smaller Tesco. The sort that wasn't 24hrs so most of the stocking of the shelves happened after closing.
The pickers started before the store openned, so they near enough had first pick of the stock. So if something wasn't in stock for the pickers, it wasn't for any customers. So if something was 'missing' fromn your order, it was because there wasn't any in the shop (so the shopper would have had the same issue if they were doing their shopping in-store).
We did have some funny moaners though.
One woman was quite rude when the pink toilet paper she ordered was out of stock, so was substitued for yellow tilet paper. She sent it back after moaning about how it wouldn't match her bathroom in yellow.
One winters day (a week or so before Christmas), when delivering to one of the furthest houses from the store, in a valley, sinlge lane type place, it was snowing pretty heavily. I was maybe half a mile away from them, but couldn't get up a hill with my rear wheel drive Transit, van was nearly sideways going up a hill, so reversed to a safe place and called the customer. Told them I couldn't make it. They fairly moaned that I should make the delivery. They were a regular so I knew they had a 4x4, I suggested that I could wait and they could drive down to me to collect their shopping, they told me there was no way there were going to drive in this weather haha. They did phone the store to complain that I never delivered their shopping.
Another one, I had a weeks worth of shopping and about 12 bottles of wine to deliver. I arrive at the house, no adults about, only two kids (must have been about 7 and 11/12). Policy was to not leave alcohol with minors, so refunded the wine and took it back to the store. They also phoned in to complain that they never got their booze. Manager pointed out the policy and that they picked the time slot (told me later that he really wanted to also bring up the kids being left alone part, but decided they were irrate enough).
Lots of others, but that'll do for now.
Molgrips
You make it sound like they are not delivering things just because they can’t be bothered.
Either they can't be bothered .. and/or are selling things they don't have.
To STW it.. either it's "in stock", "in stock with supplier", "expected in stock on"...
Lets say you bought a bike from a LBS and paid up front to collect it or have it delivered the next week. Next week comes and they tell you "sorry it was out of stock because someone walked into the shop and we sold it to them instead" or it arrives with no rear wheel because in the meantime they sold the rear wheel to someone else?
Partly they can't be bothered do just take purchased stuff out of stock ... or they are selling stuff they don't actually have and are unwilling at the price to get it in stock.
Either they have a poor process or supporting systems... the question is really WHY perhaps?
I think wwpaddler sums it up ...
The supermarkets could close down home delivery tomorrow, reduce their store prices and still make the same profit.
The only thing that stops a shop quitting home delivery is the fear that all the customers would go to a shop that continues to home deliver.
Compare this with buying online bearings or seals/bushes..
They seem to manage very well and I have never had money taken for an item that wasn't delivered.
A full set of bearings might not be in stock but at least I know and they don't take my money just to find out later and have to order elsewhere because they have both the process and supporting systems in place. They don't sell me some 6902 bearings and substitute some 6903 I can't use.
When it comes to buying bearings I'll usually do baskets with 3-4 online retailers and my primary consideration is delivery and having everything I need. The retailers have the processes and systems and it all works and supermarkets could as well if they committed to it rather than do it 1/2 assed.
seriousrrisk
The service is what it is – and it is designed (and baked into terms and conditions) that it will work for the majority of people the majority of the time.
The thing here is then they/we etc. should stop pretending it's a service for anyone.
The overlap between people who can't go to a supermarket/shop and have dietary requirements is quite large and the most vulnerable almost by definition. (Unable to be vaccinated, co-morbidities, mobility etc. etc.)
Many of them live alone and have lost their friends or partners over the last 2-3 years
5lab
its not quite as simple as that. Home delivery and physical shop are co-dependent. The online shopping keeps some stores open by providing a need for it as a localised hub. Its a bit like business class and economy class seats on a plane. Business class provides all the profit, but you can’t run an airline as business only because someone needs to fill the rest of the plane up so they can run regularly
Both methods provide footfall, one is just virtual.
I feel they are doing this so poorly simply because they are only doing it reluctantly for fear of missing out and if say Tesco stopped home deliveries then they would lose customers (virtual and real footfall) to say Sainsbury's.
Deliberately missing key items is a way to force customers to reorder/or go to the local and both are then likely to get them to purchase additional items.
Similarly they can sell out of date stock without having to reduce it in store.
danposs86
Before I left in 2010, I was a home shopping delivery driver for a smaller Tesco. The sort that wasn’t 24hrs so most of the stocking of the shelves happened after closing.
The pickers started before the store openned, so they near enough had first pick of the stock. So if something wasn’t in stock for the pickers, it wasn’t for any customers. So if something was ‘missing’ fromn your order, it was because there wasn’t any in the shop (so the shopper would have had the same issue if they were doing their shopping in-store).
Hence the point.. they aren't really trying. Why would they put stuff onto shelves that's already sold only to send someone to take it back off the shelves if its not purchased in the meantime?
One woman was quite rude when the pink toilet paper she ordered was out of stock, so was substitued for yellow tilet paper. She sent it back after moaning about how it wouldn’t match her bathroom in yellow.
Not that I personally care what colour but why sell something you don't have?
Not that I personally care what colour but why sell something you don’t have?
Maybe it was in stock at the point the buyer clicked "buy now" and by the time the picker had come to wander around the store getting it all, it was out of stock?
Hence the point.. they aren’t really trying. Why would they put stuff onto shelves that’s already sold only to send someone to take it back off the shelves if its not purchased in the meantime?
At a guess, because the effort to direct a percentage of the incoming stock to "over here where we store what we think is going to be picked in the next day or so" and the remainder to "out here on the shop floor where anyone can buy it" is far too much for the actual return on investment which, as noted, is not actually making the store any money.
Supermarkets also run a just-in-time system to ensure that food, especially fruit & veg, is not just sitting around - they'll know from the vast amounts of data-mining that goes on from loyalty cards etc stuff like seasonal produce and expected runs on things (eg hot weather = BBQ food, ice cream, beer all at higher than normal sales) but splitting online and in-store is extra work that they don't need.
Yellow toilet paper in place of pink is a fairly reasonable substitution I'd say.
An onion in place of a lemon probably isn't but it won't be a picker making that choice, it'll be a computer somewhere - when the picker goes to the aisle to collect X and it's not there, they'll tell the computer and it'll say "try Y or Z"
Compare this with buying online bearings or seals/bushes..
They seem to manage very well and I have never had money taken for an item that wasn’t delivered.
A full set of bearings might not be in stock but at least I know and they don’t take my money just to find out later and have to order elsewhere because they have both the process and supporting systems in place. They don’t sell me some 6902 bearings and substitute some 6903 I can’t use.
Because bearings are small and non-perishable. You can order huge quantities and have them on the shelf ready for customers.
Food is bulky and goes off. You can only order into the shop what you can sell before it goes off. Slightly underestimate that and you run out, slightly overestimate and you generate waste (which pushes prices up, you can't just order 10% more bread or bananas just in case).
Hence the point.. they aren’t really trying. Why would they put stuff onto shelves that’s already sold only to send someone to take it back off the shelves if its not purchased in the meantime?
There isn't a neatly ordered warehouse out the back of the supermarket, it IS the warehouse. The cages come in from the distribution centers loaded up with what the stock control system sees running out on each isle. Lorry comes in packed with cages, they get stored out back until there's a quiet time, then they get wheeled straight out to the shop floor.
Not that I personally care what colour but why sell something you don’t have?
Stock control isn't perfect. Wastage, theft, etc. Maybe the pink bog roll delivery got wet. Maybe it was in stock 3 days ago when the order was placed but had sold out by the time the pickers went out to collect it a few hours before the delivery slot.
I don’t think you have kids but predicting what they’ll want for Christmas any earlier than about 15th Dec is a total fool’s errand. Now, you can counter-argue that in predicting and buying up in advance he’s taking the risk that he’s going to get it wrong but in breadline Britain that’s not a luxury hard-up parents have, to buy stuff they aren’t sure their kids want 6 months in advance.
And yes, the other easy answer is to say ‘well just don’t buy it then’ but again, I don’t think you have kids?
I mean,
Yes?
But then that's the point, he's speculating. He could come out of it really badly if he gets it wrong. How much stuff did he buy that -didn't- sell at a markup?
You're saying that the parents can't "buy stuff they aren’t sure their kids want 6 months in advance" or even ten days before Christmas, yet he's a monster because he can seemingly do exactly that with stuff someone else's kids might want?
You're right, I'm not a parent, but if I had a kid who's present choice had a deadline window of a fortnight before they were no longer interested then I'd figure that they didn't really want it all that badly in the first place.
yeah, nah.
Either they can’t be bothered .. and/or are selling things they don’t have.
To STW it.. either it’s “in stock”, “in stock with supplier”, “expected in stock on”…
The way that online orders work for most supermarkets is that you place your order, and choose a date/time for delivery. Then, prior to the delivery time on your chosen day, a "picker" will basically walk around the supermarket doing you shopping for you.
Ask yourself what it is you are expecting here: not just for the supermarket to do real-time updates of stock availability (which would be virtually impossible given the scale you are talking about, but that you might also have hundreds of units in people trolleys but not checked-out at any one time) but you are wanting them to use a crystal ball to determine whether they are going to have a 200g pack of wafer thin honey roast ham, on the shelf at 2pm next Wednesday.
The alternative is what? That as soon as an order is placed (like instantly) somebody runs around the store collecting-up all the non perishables, which are then safety stored until next week. Then a second run done before the store opens on the day of the delivery in order to get all the perishable items (with the maximum use by date)? Even then, deliveries arrive at all different times of day - there are still going to be a few missing things. The cost of that service would be prohibitive.
I sympathise with your/your mothers position - but if 100% reliability/accuracy is critically important, then online food shopping is not the right solution. For 99.9% of people though - it's fine.
Back to the original OP..... I used to work in a HUGE sainsburys in the mid/late 90s, which is when they all started taking customer service extremely seriously.
People were demanding car valets because bottles of milk had leaked, returning items that they had dropped halfway accross the car park etc.
It was really noticeable that the majority of rude customers that I experienced were late-middle aged women. I'm aware thats become a stereotype recently, but it was very obvious at the time.
The exception was the Saturday before Christmas. Obviously it was always utter chaos, but more so because ****less husbands would be sent out with a list - terrified that Christmas would be ruined and they'd be in the doghouse because we'd run our of sprouts/chipolatas etc. We had some sensational meltdowns.
One year there were so many people in the shop that we ran-out of trolleys. So people were just walking in and pinching somebody else's from halfway around the store. I think we actually had a couple of punch-ups because of that. I ended up posted on the door (with a big tin of quality street) enforcing a one-in, one-out policy. One bloke actually tried to barge past me when I said he'd have to join the (admittedly large) queue.
Crazy times
IF he’s hoovering up the entire stock of hard-to-find items (such as concert tickets, or hand gel and toilet roll a couple of years ago) and in doing so is preventing regular customers from buying them, I would 100% agree with you. But there’s no indication that that’s what’s happening here, is there?
That’s literally what he was doing in some cases. One of the supermarkets did a ‘half price off all toys’ sale, he went in and bought every GoGo hamster toys they had/would let him have (before it was found they were toxic) amongst other stuff.
With the websites, I assume from his purchasing patterns, they didn’t want to supply what was effectively their competition.
He also did the buying and selling Lego thing, often ‘doing you a favour to get rid of it for you’ etc.
He got a reality check when he had to refund some Michael Jackson tickets, long after he’d spent the proceeds, cause the selfish sod died.
Compare this with buying online bearings or seals/bushes..
Bang on. Just last week I bought a set of bearings only to find they were three days past their sell-by date!
They seem to manage very well and I have never had money taken for an item that wasn’t delivered.
A full set of bearings might not be in stock but at least I know and they don’t take my money just to find out later and have to order elsewhere because they have both the process and supporting systems in place. They don’t sell me some 6902 bearings and substitute some 6903 I can’t use.
Wasn't a well-known bike components retailer notorious for doing exactly that?
That’s literally what he was doing in some cases.
Fair enough, then.
UHT
Mrs_oab used to work in Kirkcudbright Creamery.
The general order of grossness was:
- Fresh Milk
- Cream (for when the fresh milk was being separated as it was about to go off...)
- McDonalds thick shakes and dried milk power-like products (for when the fresh milk was about to go off)
- UHT (for when the milk was just about gone and UHT was last chance to sell a volume of near wasted milk)
- Those 'white lite' wee pots at motorway services. For the really rank milk.
Having heard the maggot stories from the UHT and White Lite lines, 🤮🤮🤮
crazy-legs
Maybe it was in stock at the point the buyer clicked “buy now” and by the time the picker had come to wander around the store getting it all, it was out of stock?
Perhaps .. though I don't get the feeling they are trying. If its ordered then they need to get it off the shelves or reorder a replacement so it can't be purchased by someone else.
I don't disagree the example is a bit trivial though.
At a guess, because the effort to direct a percentage of the incoming stock to “over here where we store what we think is going to be picked in the next day or so” and the remainder to “out here on the shop floor where anyone can buy it” is far too much for the actual return on investment which, as noted, is not actually making the store any money.
Supermarkets also run a just-in-time system to ensure that food, especially fruit & veg, is not just sitting around – they’ll know from the vast amounts of data-mining that goes on from loyalty cards etc stuff like seasonal produce and expected runs on things (eg hot weather = BBQ food, ice cream, beer all at higher than normal sales) but splitting online and in-store is extra work that they don’t need.
If you remember the Tesco Accounting scandal (2015) this was caused (apparently) because the individual store powers didn't account for warehousing as they thought online should foot the bill. (That's perhaps paraphrasing and from memory) because the online purchases made up a very significant portion of the warehouse.
According to
https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252499325/Tesco-reports-online-sales-surge-advances-digital-platform
Online sales participation doubled to 15% for the full year, reaching a peak of 18% during the fourth quarter of 2020, according to Tesco.
Google tells me Tesco have 4,074 stores in the UK (including franchises) so that's a single entity shifting as much as 800+ "average" stores.
I'm not arguing that the process and system they have is in any way efficient (we are to an extent in agreement).
Where we differ (perhaps) is I see it as a tag on process due to a reluctance or otherwise to commit to proper process engineering. I believe because they are only doing it to stop existing customers switching loyalty.
I haven't done online food orders in an age but what I remember and my mum's is that I do it a week in advance.. this should give them plenty of time to be stocking both pre-purchased and speculative (from data mining and ML) items from the warehouses and use an optimizer for the deliveries.
I happen to know (from a previous life) fuel companies are major customers for optimizer software such as CPLEX / iLOG but not to my knowledge supermarkets. That doesn't seem to have really changed...
thisisnotaspoon
Well most of the above ^^^
Stock control isn’t perfect. Wastage, theft, etc. Maybe the pink bog roll delivery got wet.
It's a lot of maybe's... I think it's also maybe more likely they simply don't care about fulfilling an order they took the money for because they already have the rest of the order and it didn't go to a competitor.
The big difference is the bearing companies (my example) also deal with procurement departments and they would quickly be hit with fines and struck off the procurement list if they didn't deliver.
Maybe it was in stock 3 days ago when the order was placed but had sold out by the time the pickers went out to collect it a few hours before the delivery slot.
But (taking your 3 days) they still have time to make sure its delivered from the warehouse in time for the order... presumably the one in-stock on the shelves was there to be sold so why wouldn't they order the replacement item from the warehouse at that time? [sticking with the loo roll they expect to need 35 on the shelves .. someone orders one and they have that ADDED to the delivery of "pink puppy roll"
Food is bulky and goes off. You can only order into the shop what you can sell before it goes off. Slightly underestimate that and you run out, slightly overestimate and you generate waste (which pushes prices up, you can’t just order 10% more bread or bananas just in case).
This is my point ... it wasn't speculative (an estimate) it was already sold and paid for as would have been the 8 bananas and loaf of bread on the order. So again it's add an extra 8 bananas and a loaf of Hovis (with a fudge factor from data mining for customers that would have bought in store but aren't because its bought online)
Because bearings are small and non-perishable. You can order huge quantities and have them on the shelf ready for customers.
Again we are back to is it in stock or not (or even expected in stock on)
If I look at this as a customer it's the same thing. It's the supermarkets problem to do the logistics just as it's mine to order the correct items for the recipe. (I'm not disagreeing I'm saying as a customer not my problem)
As a process engineer they don't seem to actually be trying to do that though.
As a customer I'll give my business to the bearing company/supermarket that actually has everything I want deliverable by the date I need. If its more than one I'll go cheapest for the exact same bearings or maybe make other decisions but the primary decision for me to use one company over another is if an entire order is in stock and deliverable.
Advertising something you don't actually have (or try very hard to make happen) to prevent someone buying from a competitor is misleading and dishonest and it just doesn't look to me that they are actually trying very hard at all and its more of an afterthought to avoid losing business.
So again it’s add an extra 8 bananas and a loaf of Hovis (with a fudge factor from data mining for customers that would have bought in store but aren’t because its bought online)
But surely you can appreciate how impossible that is. You can't predict exactly how many of an item will sell on any given day.
You could order Bananas on Monday for a Thursday delivery, they could order n+1 bananas on Wednesday where n is their normal daily order, and then Blue Peter* makes Banana Bread Wednesday evening and they've sold out.
*does Blue Peter still exist? If not substitute in TikTock influencer.
As a customer I’ll give my business to the bearing company/supermarket that actually has everything
Unlike the bearing supplier, they can't though. They can't tell if the last kilo of bananas in stock has gone off until they get to the shelf, several days after you ordered.
and it just doesn’t look to me that they are actually trying very hard at all and its more of an afterthought to avoid losing business.
How much would you be willing to pay for this guaranteed system?
Its doable but not under the current model where they use existing stores as the base. You would need completely separated systems for it to work in a guaranteed way.
Cougar
Wasn’t a well-known bike components retailer notorious for doing exactly that?
They still do as far as I know...
I only use them for replacement spares (like chains and pads) I want to keep in the toolbox/shed/van and then use the use google to find them and wait for the £5 off code.
I just checked and they seem to be saying "Hurry! Get This Deal While Stocks Last" inferring its in stock whereas I don't believe it is or isn't (schrodinger items)
It's the same as another company having "we are moving warehouse and have all these wheels taking up space to sell" then after you order telling you "we have to build your wheel"
But surely you can appreciate how impossible that is. You can’t predict exactly how many of an item will sell on any given day.
You could order Bananas on Monday for a Thursday delivery, they could order n+1 bananas on Wednesday where n is their normal daily order, and then Blue Peter* makes Banana Bread Wednesday evening and they’ve sold out.
*does Blue Peter still exist? If not substitute in TikTock influencer.
You don't need to .. its the same as the bike example. Oh we left it in the shop and someone bought it after you paid for it.
I'm really saying if someone has already paid for an item don't sell it to someone else or deliver the paid for items in addition to the ones on the shelf and keep them aside.
I think it’s also maybe more likely they simply don’t care about fulfilling an order they took the money for because they already have the rest of the order and it didn’t go to a competitor.
We get same/next-day Morrisons deliveries through Amazon - yesterday was, I think, the first time they EVER got anything wrong (white nectarines instead of yellow, and no spinach and rocket salad, which we ordered as no lettuce was available online - oh, the horror of modern life), super-easy no-quibble refund for missing or incorrect items.
I’m really saying if someone has already paid for an item don’t sell it to someone else or deliver the paid for items in addition to the ones on the shelf and keep them aside.
Not really workable for fresh goods for the reasons outlined above.
The supermarkets do not always receive the quantity they order from suppliers. Sometimes this is due to unforeseen circumstances or often become the supermarket has ordered more than the supplier is capable of producing.
For short shelf life products the supermarkets will not know of this failure to supply until a day or two before the product is due to reach store.
How much would you be willing to pay for this guaranteed system?
Its doable but not under the current model where they use existing stores as the base. You would need completely separated systems for it to work in a guaranteed way.
Me personally ?
It costs me a few quid to drive to and from the superstore where most stuff I want is in stock .. and if it isn't I know immediately and can replan etc. so assuming I wasn't getting the dregs and stuff they put at the front because it was about to expire at least that.
I think the thing is though taking the figures above the current model isn't scale-able and hence not sustainable with continued growth.
Online grocery shopping remains popular with consumers, with its share of sales rising to 13.1%, up from 11.3% in December 2021, the highest since July 2021. This is against a backdrop of a small slide in overall UK supermarket sales over the same period.
There's a PoV from McKinley here....
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/the-next-s-curve-of-growth-online-grocery-to-2030
How much you believe it in detail is debateable but overall the trend is clearly that online sales are catching in store... so a change in model is going to be needed anyway. It's not a given it would be more expensive either.
Implications for traditional retailers and their physical network
Incumbent retailers that are not currently playing in online might be at risk of losing market share, especially in urban areas. For example, in the aggressive market forecast for the United Kingdom, online scheduled grocery would be the largest channel in the country by 2030, overtaking supermarkets. Executives should consider several actions.
I’m really saying if someone has already paid for an item don’t sell it to someone else or deliver the paid for items in addition to the ones on the shelf and keep them aside.
Yes, but as I said, that's not how supermarkets are built, there isn't a big Argos style warehouse at the back full of stock. There's an area just big enough to unload a lorry load of cages into.
And the "item" may not even exist until a few hours before it's picked (e.g. Bananas again, ripened just in time to go out onto the shelves). So even if you did build the extra facilities and employ the extra staff to find those items in the cages* before they went out, you can't guarantee that the lorry with Warburton's didn't break down so you're getting Hovis instead.
*which in itself would be difficult, because you could be trying to find a bar of Dairy Milk, which is packaged inside a box of 40, in a cage underneath 100kg of biscuits and confectionary, and it's only there if the box on the shelf is running low so it might not even be there to intercept and you'd have to go out onto the shop floor and hope they weren't all in peoples trollies anyway.
It was really noticeable that the majority of rude customers that I experienced were late-middle aged women. I’m aware thats become a stereotype recently, but it was very obvious at the time.The exception was the Saturday before Christmas. Obviously it was always utter chaos, but more so because ****less husbands would be sent out with a list – terrified that Christmas would be ruined and they’d be in the doghouse because we’d run our of sprouts/chipolatas etc. We had some sensational meltdowns.
Identical stories to @batfink ! A Sainsbury's again and I recognise every one of those examples. I saw customers get into actual fistfights over the last scraps of turkey in the freezer aisles at 4pm on Christmas Eve.
And yes, many rude middle-aged women. Funniest one was a woman who literally grabbed me as I was walking through the fruit and veg section to get to my own shelfstacking area and saying
"young man - do these tomatoes have any genetics in them?"
What she obviously meant was "are these tomatoes genetically engineered?" but that certainly wasn't what she asked. Where to begin...?!
I'm just curious who the bike retailer is.
thisisnotaspoon
Yes, but as I said, that’s not how supermarkets are built, there isn’t a big Argos style warehouse at the back full of stock. There’s an area just big enough to unload a lorry load of cages into.
Yep but if you believe the data and predictions ^^^^ they either adapt or die.
For my money Tesco would be killing it if they hadn't had the 2015 fiasco with accounting and the others could just close down now. Waitrose chucked Ocado and the others tried jumping in without doing a digital transformation and are doomed to fail unless they take the respite to adapt.
Just back from a walk to the local supermarket. Just as well I went in person rather than ordering online as some of the vegetables on my list were in an awful state, no doubt due to the unusually hot weather we've been having. I just bought alternatives.
What would people suggest the pickers for online orders do when faced with poor quality goods?
I don't shop online for fresh goods but sometimes use the drive service, in doing so I know that if they've only got soggy tomatoes I'll get soggy tomatoes.
I had a rant a the check out today because they've changed from weighing at the checkout to weighing yourself at the veg stand. This meant putting everything back in the basket, walking back to the veg, weighing and then requeueing. The rant went something like. "Sir this is nothing personal and you're doing your job perfectly, this is aimed at God up there, the fools who designed this supermarket and this crazy world we live in. If stuff needs to be weighed then stick a load of signs up, not just one 2.5m up in the air, because it really pisses people off and they'll go to Aldi or Lidl where they still weigh stuff at the check out"
The checkout guy and the people in the queue seemed amused.
Yep but if you believe the data and predictions ^^^^ they either adapt or die.
Yet, as you say, online supermarket sales are growing
