Save time and money
By Karen Scott
Grocery shopping is one of those little chores that we all have to do. What if someone else could do it for you while also saving you time and money?
There has been plenty of media hype about buying groceries online. So during a recent training session with professional businesswomen, TrainingNet decided to put the grocery sites to the test. None of our participants had previously bought anything over the Net.
Before our live demonstration these businesswomen expressed some concern about putting their credit card details on a website, however, we showed them just how safe and simple it is to shop for groceries online.
To minimise their risk and promote their confidence, the participants undertook their first online shopping ”experiment” using our credit card. After ordering from the first website with someone else’s credit card most of the participants were keen to use their own cards for the other orders. Now our training participants had first-hand experience about how easy it is to buy groceries online.
Below are the questions our training participants posed and the results from two Australian websites:
| PARTICIPANTS” QUESTIONS | GREENGROCER.COM.AU | SHOPFAST.COM.AU |
| What do they sell? | ||
| Fruit and vegies | Yes | Yes |
| Groceries | Dairy only | Yes |
| Seafood | Yes | Yes, limited |
| Flowers | Yes | Yes |
| How easy is it to navigate the website? | Easy-to-order screen. Scan items and simplytype the quantity you needed. You could see the total cost and prices on one screen. | Complicated. Sometimes we were unsure if we had added a quantity of 0,1 or 2 items. Check your list to ensure you ordered correctly. |
| How long does it take to order for the first time? | 30 minutes | 1 hour – we built our personal shopping aisle from all the grocery items. |
| How long does it take to enter a subsequent order? | Not applicable (estimate 10 minutes) | 10 minutes – the extra 5 minutes was in adding a few more things to our personal shopping list. Re-ordering from our own list took 5 minutes. |
| How do you pay? | On the website | On delivery |
| Credit Card | Credit card only | Yes |
| Cash | No | Yes |
| Cheque | No | Yes |
| EFTPOS | No | Yes |
| On account/invoice | No | No |
| What is the minimum order value? | $25 | Not applicable |
| What are the delivery options? | Monday to Friday am or pm | Mon to Fri 9am to 11pm in 2 hour intervals |
| What is the quality/quantity like? (Reviewed on arrival) | Box half full, items individually wrapped. Quality of produce outstanding. Appeared expensive for the quantity. | For our $50 order it seemed like only 2 grocery bags. Quality good. Quantity as expected. Saved some time, maybe an extra $5. |
| Do I need to be there for the delivery? | No | Yes, unless you leave payment under your |
| Is there a delivery charge? | No, it’s free | Yes, $5.95 |
| Do they offer refrigeration on delivery? | $4 extra | Yes |
| Would we use them again? | Yes. For seafood or unusual items, or for expensive, good quality produce. | Yes – 3 out of 4 weeks, then buy the extra things they don’t yet sell. |
Congratulations! Karen achieved a finalist position in the Alcatel Young Women”s Award and Ausindusty Private Sector Award of the 2000 Telstra Business Women’s Awards.
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