Thanks to online shopping, you can now buy pretty much everything you want without stepping out of your front door. But could you one day buy everything you need without even clicking out of one website?
That was the thought that occurred to me when I read about Amazon’s new service, Amazon Fresh. It offers you the chance to do your weekly food shop and have it delivered in one-hour time slots seven days a week between 7am and 11pm, including same-day delivery.
You have to be an Amazon Prime member and will also have to pay an extra £6.99 a month.
It has launched in 69 London postcodes but will presumably roll out if it’s successful. But would you use it?
Online shopping
Over the years, I’ve used Amazon to buy a huge range of stuff from the usual books and CDs to electric toothbrushes, shoe polish and even Disney dresses (for nieces, not myself I hasten to add). It has often been a last-minute lifesaver when I needed a present in a hurry.
And Which? members seem to find the online retail giant equally useful. In fact, it came 8th out of 100 online shops in our most recent survey of online shops in November. Even changes to its delivery charges didn’t stop it receiving an excellent customer score of 82%. But would you buy food from it?
Doing the weekly shop online
An increasing number of us are voting with our wallets and having our groceries delivered rather than enduring the queues at a bricks-and-mortar supermarket.
This year, it’s expected that we’ll spend £9.8 billion on online groceries, according to market analysts, Mintel. Up 13% on last year. And it’s hard to see any reason why that trend will be reversed any time soon.
But would you be happy to buy your food from Amazon? In our survey of online shops, it was often praised for delivering ahead of schedule. And you will be able to access 130,000 fresh and frozen grocery items including big brands and Morrison products.
Or would you rather rely on a more traditional food retailer? After all, with a traditional supermarket, you could argue that its online presence is only an extension of the service that you already get instore.
Would you be happy to order your food from Amazon? And would you be happy to pay the amount it’s planning to charge?
Would you be happy to buy your groceries on Amazon?
No (60%, 517 Votes)
Not sure (21%, 185 Votes)
Yes (19%, 164 Votes)
Total Voters: 866
