Grocery Shopping Online Finding Some Old Fashioned Value

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Back in the early days of the internet, one assumption was that it wouldn't take long before everyone was grocery shopping online. A dot.com bubble burst later and it still seems to be taking some time for this particular internet revolution to get going. The IDG - the grocery and food industry body - produces annual reports on the development of the online market. While growth is steady, improving year on year, the reports suggest that only 3.2% of British shoppers will do their grocery shopping on line. With sales amounting to 4.8 billion this year, the IDG estimates that this will double by 2015 to 8.3billion. Despite the apparent simplicity of grocery shopping online - many people still prefer - if that's the right word - to brave the supermarkets; so why the slow uptake?

Food with air miles

There is nothing new about having grocery shopping delivered. For previous generations the idea of buying locally sourced, fresh produce was not only a fact of life; it was often the only option. Mobile shops were familiar sights in many rural areas and a 'fish-man' 'veg-man' and milk-man were familiar in nearly every town and village. Our own shopping habits changed for a while - with the rise of the supermarkets. Having effectively killed off many small local shops, these supermarkets are struggling to provide an adequate delivery service. The supermarket business model has been built on the idea that we were prepared to go to them, and didn't mind too much if, when we got there, the tomatoes came from Israel and the oranges had collected more air miles than we could ever dream of.

The costs of grocery shopping online

This has begun to change in the last few years, the internet means we really shouldn't have to go anywhere if we don't want to; and buying food that is better travelled than ourselves is a big turn off as people grow increasingly concerned about the environment. The supermarkets and other online grocery suppliers are trying to break their own mould and offer a more local and more tailored service - including the home delivery option. But is it working? To some extent yes, but the downsides include delivery charges and sometimes inconvenient delivery slots.

Fresh take on an old service

Strangely, the smaller businesses that were thought to be extinct are making a comeback on the grocery shopping front. Dairies have diversified and your milkman can now deliver a huge range of fresh food and every day household items. This innovative service using modern technology to update an established service is proving popular. With no delivery charges for even the smallest delivery and the very earliest of next day delivery slots, it seems that our trusty old milkmen still have a few miles left in them!

About the Author:
Finding a reliable online grocery shopping service is now more simple than ever, by diversifying to fill a big gap in the little shop market your average milkman can offer an unbeatable service that can out-compete most other fruit and veg delivery and fresh grocery shopping services.



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