Life in Lockdown - O is for Online shopping - A-Z Challenge 2021

 

Click here for the A-Z blog to find out more about this challenge.  

 

Before the pandemic I had been doing online shopping for groceries for a long time, but probably only once a month when I would stock up on all the bulky items.  In between I would do local shops from the ones I could walk to, or occasionally we would drive to a supermarket and do a bigger shop.

When lockdown hit us it made sense to switch completely to online shopping for our groceries.  On the whole it’s been relatively hassle free.  Of course this meant having deliveries more often so that fresh items stayed fresh.  Initially it was a bit tricky to get a delivery slot and a few times we had to do a “click & collect” but that was fine – we just popped the boot and the staff loaded up the shopping.  As time went on getting a home delivery slot became easier.  All the supermarkets have taken on extra staff to deal with the increased demand.  We’re now in a routine of booking 4 weeks in advance and as soon as we’ve had a delivery I get on to booking the next one.

Of course you have to put something in your trolley to secure the order.  Usually I just place a previous order in the trolley and then amend it before the deadline.  That works fairly well although there have been a couple of near misses when I’ve forgotten the order is due and we nearly ended up with just 5 litre containers of de-ionised water!  We’ve had a few weird substitutions too but they can just be handed back. 

Interestingly I learned recently that it’s not the pickers who decide what a substitute should be but the computer.  The computer knows when an item isn’t available and will put a substitution on the picking list.  The picker then just picks what’s on the list.  Which might explain why I got a bath sponge instead of a shower cap!

I’ve also got very good at sourcing things online such as door handles, TV aerials, curtain hooks etc.  All things that I would normally just go to the right shop for.  Except shops haven’t been open.  Of course it’s not the same looking for some things online but this week non-essential shops have re-opened so we will be able to start looking for things like curtains and lampshades and other things for the house that we need to see before buying.

It might take a while to feel comfortable doing that though.  I did go to a shopping mall yesterday as my hairdresser’s salon is in a department store.  It felt strange being out and about with other shoppers.  The department store felt quite busy.  It’s closing down so there were lots of bargains to be had but I didn’t feel comfortable being in there.  I did venture to Marks & Spencers for a few things I wanted but again it was busy.  So much so that I had to queue briefly to get in as they were obviously keeping tabs on the numbers in the store.  Which of course is a good thing but not what we’re used to.  This new normal is going to take a while to feel ok. 

Once I’d got the things I needed I headed home.  Hopefully once the initial rush of people who were desperate to get back out to the shops has died down, and I’ve had my second jab, I might feel more inclined to go browsing the shops again.