Grocery shoppers give up the aisles

SOPHIE ELSWORTH
MAY 11, 2014
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA
TIME-POOR Australians are skipping trips to the supermarket and paying a premium to have groceries delivered to their doorstep.
The nation’s big supermarket chains say online grocery shopping has been growing at a rapid rate.
However, don’t expect it to save you any money.
Woolworths’ general manager of multi-option retail Kate Langford says this type of new-age shopping has taken off in recent years amid increasing time pressures on households.
“We increased our online shopping by 50 per cent year-on-year in the last three years,’’ she says. “That’s reflective of the fact more customers are not just shopping online for the first time but they’re becoming regular shoppers.’’
She says busy families and those with young children are among the most common demographic to hit their online store and order upbuy online.
Woolworths has more than 900 stores nationwide and she says delivery is available to 96 per cent of Australian homes.
Langford says customers can still enjoy the weekly specials when buying goods online, and are charged the same prices as instore for produce items.
However they are charged a higher cost for buying other goods to cover the cost of having the items personally picked and packed for them.
Customers are not charged for the first three deliveries and orders valued at more than $300 are free. Otherwise they are charged for this service which can be up to $11.
Coles has also experienced significant online shopping growth and it has become one of their fastest growing parts of its business.
“Coles online is experiencing growth in line with the market with sales having double digit growth in the year to January,’’
“The higher cost of hand picking and packing products for customers’ right across Australia means that in addition to the delivery charge some products are at a slightly higher price online,” says spokeswoman Anna Kelly.
Consumer group Choice’s spokesman, Tom Godfrey, says while it is a convenient service it does come at a price.
“While the product range can be limited, if you know what you want and are happy to pay a premium, doing the weekly shop online can be a good option,’’ he says.