Amazon Grocery

I don’t go to the grocery store much, and when I do it’s usually for toiletries or non-perishables, so Amazon Grocery seemed like a pretty good fit. I’m already a Prime member so everything has free shipping, and I’m pretty comfortable giving money to Amazon these days. For my first test purchase I decided to go for something bulky that would be a pain to walk several blocks with. So the first purchase was some Cottonelle toilet paper. Now there are two immediate problems: first I didn’t realize it was a four-pack. I don’t know if I have enough storage space for that much toilet paper, so I might end up giving some of it to friends. (That’s what friends are for, right?) Second I ordered it on June 18, and it still hasn’t shipped 10 days later. Good thing there was no urgency! My initial experience with Amazon Grocery has been pretty disappointing.

22 thoughts on “Amazon Grocery

  1. I remember we were talking about buying groceries online when you were here last December. Here in Ireland (and in the UK) Tesco have a great online service and will deliver on time within a 2 hour timeslot on a day you choose.
    When it works, it’s great, and supping a glass of wine while shopping for the day-to-day stuff is a new experience everyone should try once! 🙂

  2. Here in Amsterdam, the Albert Hein supermarket chain has an excellent internet shopping service, been going for some years now. I use it two or three times a month. Perfect for toilet paper multipacks – and they always deliver when they say they will 🙂

    In fact, their virtual supermarket is a lot better stocked than the physical ones.

    No Amazon in the Netherlands so can’t see competition from them here any time soon. Mind you, I order lots of stuff from Amazon in the UK and their overall service is outstanding. I suppose they could move in here if they wanted to.

  3. It’s a four pack of six rolls each, so 24 rolls. Each is 4 inches by 4.5 inches, so that’s 96 x 108 square inches of required storage space, or about 9 cubic feet. I’m sure I could find that much room somewhere, but it’s probably being used for something other than toilet paper right now.

  4. I believe the total of 24 rolls would take up approx 1 cubic foot, not 9. You now need less friends!

  5. I was wondering about the 4 rolls of toilet paper as well. What about the spare bathroom, or that closet across from the kitchen door? Or, you could get two of those towers that store spare rolls. Sorry, but this is the only one that I could think of: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=11975410&RN=716
    What is up with Amazon shipping anyway? I ordered two DVD’s on Thursday to ship in “24 hours or less”, and they didn’t go out until today. I would be scared to order toilet paper from them, that could cause some serious issues here. No, my idea of internet shopping is IM’ing my neighbor to pick up some bread and apples for me when she drives the two blocks to HEB. Love, C

  6. Well, if it ever comes, we’ll take any you can’t store. I live in San Jose with my husband and our six kids: a four pack lasts about a week around here. (I’m totally kidding about taking it. You know that, right?) Just be glad Amazon didn’t advertise it “New and Used available from…”

  7. I was going to ask if you lived in a closet but then read the comments and saw it was a bit more than your post indicated. Interesting blog, a fun read – good luck!

  8. Did you read the small print or did they just put it up after your purchase? 😉

    Availability: Usually ships within 3 to 5 weeks. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

  9. Yeah, I second the Tesco nomination … between them, Sainsbury’s & Ocada (who deliver for Waitrose), there are plenty of options for grocery delivers in the UK. I like to use Sainsbury’s but Tesco does a good job.

    Sounds like Amazon has not figured out that people do not like to wait a long time for their groceries!

  10. @cs: yes, I know that – but Matt “didn’t realize it was a four-pack”, hence my comment and pondering. $2.83×6

    Anyway, hope your bum is happy Matt 🙂

  11. The problem with Amazon Grocery is they have a lot of preprepared foods and high priced stuff. Very little of the stuff on my shopping list is avaiable at Amazon.

  12. I love Cottonelle’s logo. My wife pointed out recently that it appears to suggest that Cottonelle is “so soft, it’s like wiping your butt with a puppy.”

  13. If one reads the write up under each product, they do tell how many packages, boxes, whatever, for each ordered item. I found a lot of things that I can’t find locally, or have to pay more for else where. Once I get settled with my new move I’m definetly going to give it a try. The best part is they have a huge selection of organic products that you probably would have a hard time finding in one place, or sometimes at all depending on where you live.

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