Everybody keeps telling us that online shopping is constantly growing, and I’ve bought many things online (books, CDs, DVDs), but I had never attempted a food shop online until recently and to be honest, the experience has sent me straight back to the checkouts.
Using the website of a certain major UK supermarket, I spent a good hour and a half loading up my online basket, selecting a delivery time and heading to the checkout. This was no problem, and I’m reliably informed that when you’ve bought once, the system remembers the items you buy to make it easier (although I’ll now never be a repeat customer), so I was perfectly happy.
It was at the checkout that it all went wrong though. Firstly, I needed to amend my address details (as I had previously registered at my old address, although I had never used it), but the automatic address finder was giving me incorrect address details and wouldn’t let me input the full correct details – Somehow I wasn’t confident that the delivery driver would find Flat 11, London (my postcode was there as well, but it’s still pretty vague).
But, the worst was yet to come. I returned to my basket frustrated, only to find that all the items I had spent a lot of time selecting had been removed as a result of me attempting to change my address during an order, without even so much as an error message! The lack of continuity in this user journey suggests that it needs much better planning.
The result is a customer who will probably never do food shopping online again because of this poor user experience, and because my nearest supermarket is a store of a different company, the brand in question has lost a lot of repeat business from me.
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Jen commented on 3 September 2009 at 12:31 pm
I’ve tried to use supermarket websites before and gave up pretty quickly!
I buy my food online at http://www.abelandcole.com - it’s a great site with excellent customer service. Adding items to the basket is simple and they are stored there if you leave the site and return later.
They give you the chance to choose how often you get the items (once only, once a week, one a fortnight). I particularly like that you can give them your holiday dates so they can pause your deliveries rather than having to cancel everything.
Ali commented on 3 September 2009 at 12:41 pm
Can imagine I know the site in question.
Had the same issue, only I persisted and re-entered all my items only to get to the checkout and have the payment gateway demand an issue number from my debit card, which doesn’t exist. No way through.
Levels of frustration previously unheard of ensued.
Third time lucky I thought… This time halfway through my shop the pages or ‘aisles’ stated to break. No useful error messages or alternative routes.
That’s quite enough for me thank you. Not only will I never go back to the site, I find myself with a slightly irrational aversion to the bricks and mortar side of the company as well.
Nick Haler commented on 3 September 2009 at 5:57 pm
I think I know the site in question as well, and I agree it’s rubbish, but there are better ones out there. One that’s particularly good is mysupermarket, which lets you put together a basket, then tells you how much it would cost you in each of the major supermarkets. You can then send your basket to whichever one you prefer. It’s pretty cool.
Jon White commented on 4 September 2009 at 10:52 am
Interesting thoughts, thanks for sharing. I’m slightly surprised by the extent of the issues identified as I would’ve thought that a process like this would be much more advanced in its user experience. Particularly as it has been around a while, is a massive revenue stream/opportunity, and this particular channel seems to be a clear marketing focus for the organisation in question.
Jen and Nick, thanks for the suggestions on alternatives, I will check them out.
Tim commented on 1 October 2009 at 11:39 am
You need to use Ocado! Ugh…pure bliss…they are so wonderful. They even bring everything into your flat in different colour bags and are sooooooooooooooo responsive if they mess anything up. I don’t miss the supermarket in Camden at all…there was always a gang fight or someone having a nervous breakdown in it and it was always rammmed.
Tim commented on 1 October 2009 at 11:40 am
And I don’t work for them or anyone associated with them. And there’s even an iPhone app! Amazing.
Tim commented on 1 October 2009 at 11:44 am
Oh and there website rocks. Remembers anything you ever bought and reminds you next time you are looking for it. Plus it can assemble an average week’s shopping for you at the click of a button and then you can meddle with it. Plus there’s recipes, etc. Fab.
lorraine_p commented on 1 October 2009 at 2:08 pm
I’ve been doing my grocery shopping online for over 2 years now and can understand the frustration although I’ve never had major problems myself.
Its unusual that you lost all your items, supermarkets in general are really good for remembering added items, well for Tesco anyway. If I was to guess what went wrong it could be that the order was assigned to the old address and when you created a new address it started again. However, if that’s the case it should be made clearer from the start. In addition, moving an order from one address to another should be available and intuitive to do.
Tim - I agree with Ocado although you can’t get them in Scotland! Not used their sister site, Waitrose but hoping its as good. I actually did some user research for Ocado a year ago on their checkout process of the site and got the impression that they have a very loyal customer base which is testament to the service they provide!
Nick - thanks for the recommendation, it definitely sounds good!
Joanna commented on 1 October 2009 at 3:55 pm
I echo Tim’s sentiments. Ocado has mastered the art of online supermarket shopping. I placed my first order last week, and although it took me two days to finish my basket, it remembered my choices, and prompted me when anything I have chosen is part of an offer. No problems with payment as well - very easy and seamless.
But as they say, the proof is in the pudding. Between placing an order to actually receiving it, I got a text reminding me of my scheduled delivery, and informed me that I can make any amends to my order up until a particular time. And on the day of delivery, they sent me a text to remind me of my delivery slot and to tell me the name of my driver and the registration of the delivery van!
The driver rang me during the time frame to let me know he was running late and profusely apologised for the inconvenience he has caused.
All in all, a very positive user experience - from the website, to the post purchase customer experience. And of course, Waitrose products are of very high quality and worth every penny.
Jon White commented on 1 October 2009 at 4:05 pm
Lorraine - You’re right, I think the order being assigned to my old address was exactly what happened, which is understandable, but there was no warning that I would lose my basket (and I think it only remembers items once you’ve bought them once, rather than just putting them in your basket).
Seems Ocado is pretty well thought of then, thanks for your comments Tim & Joanna, I’ll have to give it a try.
Tim - You mentioned Ocado’s iPhone app, so thought you might be interested in Alex Baxevanis’ post about it on the blog a couple of months ago - http://www.webcredible.co.uk/blog/ocado-context-mobile
Sonali commented on 3 November 2009 at 3:55 pm
Interesting comments. Ocado definitely seems to be in a league of their own. Its interesting to understand what users actual look for when making a decision to buy a product whilst shopping online?