Coles is one of the two main supermarket chain in Australia, and I recently tried their online website store as my local supermarket has stopped delivering at home. I find grocery shopping online a necessity of the modern world, for busy families, people with tight schedules, people with mobility problems or with any temporal or chronic ailment.
The website needs registration, but it is safe, easy to browse around, and does not produce any spam. The web is well designed throughout, although I found awkward that "Your Account" was among the shopping tabs, not in the right top corner, which is standard in most websites that require registration. However, this is my only criticism to the design of the site that is extremely helpful and well thought through, and makes online shopping really easy for customers.
You can browse the store aisle per aisle, or even better, make a quick list of products using the online notepad (tab quick shopping), press search, and the engine searches the brands available for each product and shows them, product by product, so you choose your preferred brand/price/size. You can also create a list of staples you usually buy, save it as a personal list, and go directly to it next time you want to shop; you can create as many lists as you want. There is also a special section with the offers of the week, which are renewed every Wednesday, and also a section with online-only offers. Check them out because they can save you lots of money.
Although some of the staples have the same prices as in the real supermarket, I have also noticed that the offer in brands and items is much smaller and many products are more expensive. So, bear that in mind when shopping online.
One of the things I loved the most is that you can start adding products to your shopping cart, leave the site, and save your cart (and email it if you want) for another moment or day. Then you can log in again, check it out, add or remove products from your cart before checking out.
The shopping cart is always visible, on the right side of the screen, so you see what you are adding all the time. You can easily add or remove items by pressing remove or add/subtract number of items per product by pressing the arrows beside each product.
Another option you can select, and establish by default in your account, is replacement options; if you order something and they are out of stock, the store can replace it with the same product but with a different brand, which could be more expensive, or even cheaper, but it is up to you to decide whether is a good option for you. I personally never allow replacements, but I think it is convenient if you really need a product and the brand you selected is out of stock.
Checking out is very easy, but you need to set up your address first. You also have a box to leave some comments for the delivery man, like alternative number to call you, or a preferred place where to park their van, or specific instructions to find your place if located in a tricky spot. These comments can be saved and they'll be used by the system each time you shop online. Once the checking out is completed, you receive an email with your shopping cart list, estimate price, order number, and phone numbers to contact Customer Service in case of need.
You have a time-chart of deliveries to chose the one that suits you better, each one showing the delivery fee. The delivery men do arrive in time, and they even deliver on Sundays, so it is very convenient. I found the delivery prices very reasonable, 8 dollars per a 3-hour span delivery, and 13 for a 2-hour span delivery.
My recommendations to make the most of the Coles online site and save money are:
- buy in bulk,
- buy staples not fancy items,
- Check first the online offers and weekly offers tabs, as the prices can be dramatically reduced all around, and your fancy items could be affordable.
- discounts and specials change on Wednesdays.
- select a 3-hour span, so the delivery fee is the minimum\
- make sure that you leave in blank the box for replacement products in your account, as this could increase the price of your final shopping,
- Review your shopping cart list and the number of items of each product carefully before starting checking out, so you don't find that you've pressed 6 instead of 3 items by mistake.
- Check your delivery on arrival. If you find anything missing, call Customer Service immediately. They will credit the money of the missing product to your account for next time..
