Millions turn away from shopping for groceries on internet

Published on Thursday 2 December 2010 14:39

Millions of people who once shopped online for their weekly groceries have abandoned the service, according to a new report.

One in four shoppers who have used an online grocery service say they no longer to use it after becoming fed up by the limited shelf life of delivered goods, damaged items and poor substitutes for orders.

High prices also irritate online shoppers, with more than a third saying they would switch to a cheaper provider.

New findings from the independent research firm ConsumerIntelligence reveal that online grocery shopping is growing in popularity, with almost two-thirds of British households having tried it out.

However, the report also warns supermarkets that they cannot afford to be complacent, as more than a quarter of people who say that they have used online grocery shopping in the past say they have given it up.

When it comes to choosing an online grocery provider, customers believe the most important factor is the price of goods, stated by more than half of online grocery shoppers.

This is followed by the availability of products and customer service. Supermarket brand and company reputation come much lower down the list of priorities, cited by only 7 per cent of customers as being the most important consideration.

Reasons people give for no longer shopping for groceries online vary, but the major reason cited was people still like to see what they are buying before purchase.

This was followed by the high cost of delivery, not being happy with substituted products and best-before dates being too near.

The online grocery market is shared almost equally across the major supermarket chains, with Tesco just ahead of the rest - almost a third of online grocery shoppers say they regularly use its online service.

Tesco is followed in size of share by Asda, Sainsbury's, Ocado and Waitrose.

The research findings show that there are big differences in customer experiences across the online supermarkets, with almost half the customers at Ocado and the newly-launched service from Waitrose being "extremely satisfied" with the overall experience and quality of products.

Although only a quarter of people said they were extremely satisfied with the overall experience at Asda, the same supermarket had the highest percentage of customers (35 per cent) who were extremely satisfied with the cost of shopping online.

Ian Hughes, managing director of ConsumerIntelligence, said: "The online grocery shopping is booming with more people turning to the convenience that buying your goods online affords.

"However, our findings show that online grocery providers cannot rest on their laurels, as there are a number of people who have been turned off online grocery purchases by the high cost of delivery or poor food substitutes."