3 October 2008

Coles Online: Now delivering to canberra

| Peter Holland
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It has been a dream of mine to have an actual large competitor for Woolies homeshop in canberra, partly to create a bit of competition, but mostly to make woolies lift their game re quality of service.

Last night I received an email from Coles, letting me know that they are delivering to Kambah.

Awesome. Now we can choose who we want to buy from, and can get it home delivered. (3 kids and a pram isn’t a very good option whilst shopping)

They haven’t published the list of areas, but here is the link to check your postcode.

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I was dragged around the shops with my siblings by my parents when I was a sprog, I was learning how to shop and pick out fruit and veg without realising it, not to mention I had to learn patience and develop agility enough to avoid collisions with other shoppers and trolleys.

ant said :

That Woolies at Qbn is awful, they have the most shocking lines all the time, even in the grog shop. .

So Woolies Qbn = Woolies Dickson? Or has Dickson gotten better since I last ventured to that mad house?

And re the Coles prices everything I buy is indeed way over the top compared to the store prices. Have not compared them to Woolies Homeshop though but from memory when I used them last (ages ago now) they were also dearer then the shop price. But back then it was worth it to not drag the tiny children around.

Aha, my first attempt was flourescence, but I knew that was half-baked at best.

fluorescence*

JB and others have tried to explain the method in the madness of shopping at Aldi to me, but I have to say that I’m a bear of very little brain, and on the few occasions (count them on one hand) that I’ve ventured into an Aldi store (three x ACT and one x NSW), on each occasion I’ve walked out empty-handed, having done a lap or three and muttering, ‘Who the, what the, how the — it’s all too hard!’

Which worries me little as I’m planning on changing many current practices and one of them is to leave behind the temples of neon and flurescence (sp?) — “Clean up on aisle four and price-check on a packet of 24 thumb-tax on check-out #23” — and go the true village/market shopping — er, as soon as I’m in the same city for more than 48 hours at a time.

Gungahlin Al10:51 pm 09 Oct 08

We were set to give the Coles online deal a go. But then we started looking at the prices. Most things we’d normally buy are around 10% more expensive through the online service. So while the delivery charge seems good, the overall package is far from it.

Order cancelled.

I have just put my grocery order in. Lets see how it goes. Its free delivery until Oct 18 according to the website.

we are going to investigate the Gunghalin Aldi, Loq. as the magent mart out there gets visited sometimes. The german beer deal is attractive as we have someone allergic to everything.

That Woolies at Qbn is awful, they have the most shocking lines all the time, even in the grog shop. The Coles has improved a lot so it’s easy to shop there instead. Mother Natures in Qbn is excellent too, you can get most of your stuff there and then Coles for whatever they didn’t have.

wow. looked at the site and it is very easy to use, my wife may have to use it whilst i am away….

Loquaciousness12:38 pm 05 Oct 08

Gerry-Built said :

In my experience, fresh produce from Aldi lasts considerably longer than that from “The Fresh Food People” , or Coles (ie Baby spinach lasted two weeks in the fridge, Strawberries were still OK to use four days later – try getting that from the Woolies version!!! )… and generally tasted better, fresher, riper etc

It took a while for me to get converted to Aldi, but I haven’t looked back. The other day I picked up a punnet of strawberries from Aldi for $1.99 … you know how normally you have to search through the punnets to find the one with the least squishy bits? Nothing of the sort – they were all good, tasted fantastic, and what’s more – cheap! 😀

ant said :

What’s this about grog at Aldi? Qbn Aldi doesn’t have grog! I wonder why not?

Ant,

Being out on the King’s Highway, I used to go into Queanbeyan to do the fortnightly groceries between Aldi and Woolworths, but now I go up through Smith’s Gap to Gungahlin and do it there, for a number of reasons. 1. Woolworths at Queanbeyan is horrid to get in and out of, packed at all hours, ridiculously dear and difficult to maneuver in with a trolley and a four year old. 2. Aldi at Gungahlin has $3 bottles of cheap plonk. Ticks all my boxes 😉

L

ant said :

What’s this about grog at Aldi? Qbn Aldi doesn’t have grog! I wonder why not?

Already covered!

Gerry-Built said :

Interesting that (in recent times) Dunlop deliveries (Woolworths) came from Tuggeranong store!!! (not sure where Coles are coming from).

yeah, its because tuggeranong woolies is the only store in act that does homeshop…

(guess it beats sydney, where EVERYTHING comes from the one distrabution centre!)

What’s this about grog at Aldi? Qbn Aldi doesn’t have grog! I wonder why not?

Home grocery deliveries is an excellent idea, especially for people who’ve handed back their cars, or just don’t have cars, or who have small children. Oldies, too. And no waiting in ridiculous lines (Qbn Woolies, ye gods).

Coles Online is every bit as good as the Woolworths Homeshop. However the big advantage is their website! You can compare unit prices (ie per 100ml/gr etc), and ‘out of stock’ items show up then and there, no “wait to see what is missing *this* time”!!! Woolworths are going to have to pick up their act (buyer wins)!

Interesting that (in recent times) Dunlop deliveries (Woolworths) came from Tuggeranong store!!! (not sure where Coles are coming from).

In my experience, fresh produce from Aldi lasts considerably longer than that from “The Fresh Food People” , or Coles (ie Baby spinach lasted two weeks in the fridge, Strawberries were still OK to use four days later – try getting that from the Woolies version!!! )… and generally tasted better, fresher, riper etc

swamiOFswank said :

It’d be unfair to have a rant about Woolies Homeshop, wouldn’t it?

I stopped using them also some time ago for similar reasons. Plus the last straw for me was when the meat trays arrived warm and I had to race to the shops with kids in tow to buy meat for the BBQ that night. It really defeats the purpose of home delivery.

swamiOFswank9:55 pm 03 Oct 08

It’d be unfair to have a rant about Woolies Homeshop, wouldn’t it?

Hardly.

I was a Homeshop customer, but things I’d ordered continually failed to be ‘picked’ by their shoppers, with no substitutions and ‘out of stock’ marked on the invoices. How exactly can a supermarket be ‘out of stock’ of staples such as milk, rice, bread, lamb chops…and ALSO not be able to substitute? Thank god I wasn’t ordering the hungarian preserved mountain pickles or some such weird item – they’d have never found it.

After about 20 homeshop deliveries, I’d have to say that at least a quarter of them were missing items that I’d been charged for. Yes, Woolies were quick to credit me, but when you’re missing stuff you need and you have to go to the shops to get it, a credit is hardly the point. The whole thing has missed the point!!

I suppose that’s why they’re trying to woo me back with offers of free deliveries and ‘specials’ clogging my email on an almost daily basis at the moment – they’re skeerd that Coles are going to do a better job perhaps.

Bottom line: loved the idea, love the general convenience, but hate the ‘god they left out the milk AGAIN’ factor

I buy from Coles, as i have a fly buys card. and i used to work for the then CML.

aldi is not my idea of a fresh food supermarket, more something whereby i can bulk up on toilet paper, biscuits, chips etc.

But the fact that there is another online shop for me to use is pretty good.
and the coles promise is pretty good too:

When packing your order our team are trained to separate food from non food, chilled from frozen and heavy items at the bottom to avoid any squashing. Just like you would if you were shopping for yourself.

If you’re not happy with your order, we’re not happy. Just let us know and we’ll fix it. Call us on 1800 455 400 and we’ll happily assist you.

and the current fee is $9. (homeshop is $12)

I understand that there are cheaper stores, but I shop where i receive good service. and it is my preference.

Loquaciousness3:07 pm 03 Oct 08

aronde said :

My wife likes the $14.99 bottles of ‘imitation’ Baileys from Aldi. Must say I am actually enjoying them myself!

I’m a big fan of the $3 bottles of plonk, myself!

aronde said :

Aldi Homeshop might be interesting. Groceries show up in truck and dumped on lawn for you to pack and put away?

They’d get to your house damn fast though! You’d click OK on the screen and they’d be pulling up in your driveway 🙂

L

My wife likes the $14.99 bottles of ‘imitation’ Baileys from Aldi. Must say I am actually enjoying them myself!

And yes I noticed some price drops at Coles Jamison when Aldi opened but I don’t think they lasted to any great degree. Coles certainly remains a lot more expensive for items carried by Aldi.

Aldi Homeshop might be interesting. Groceries show up in truck and dumped on lawn for you to pack and put away?

Kramer said :

Can’t wait for Aldi to offer homeshop *dreaming*

(Yes, I am an Aldi fanboi – specially the german beers at $39 for 24 x 500ml cans!)

But I weep for the missing Thuringer, Kaiserdom’s not a patch on it.

Mavstar will have to do.

Can’t wait for Aldi to offer homeshop *dreaming*

(Yes, I am an Aldi fanboi – specially the german beers at $39 for 24 x 500ml cans!)

Coles is still heaps more expensive than Aldi

I also shop at Jamison. Research shows that when an Aldi moves in, prices at the local Coles/Woollies fall, so whether you shop at Aldi (cheap as chips) or Coles (bigger range) you are getting a pretty good deal.

I’m also juggling 3 kids under 4 when I do the shopping. Homeshop is convenient, or an alternative is for one person to go in the evening when the kids are in bed.

I normally shop at Aldi / Coles at Jamison. A quick glance for those few items that I buy from Coles shows they are all dearer then the physical shop price which is to be expected I guess. Some of the nappies though are $2 a pack more and the grocery items were all about 20 – 50 cents dearer. That certainly adds up if you are doing a big shop through the online channel and then pay for delivery on top of that!

But having small children myself I can understand the convenience factor may be worth the extra cost!

Aurelius said :

Peterh,
Have you tried the Kambah light rail?
I hear it smells of apples

sauce.

oh, but I can. struggling with a trolley, a 3yo, a pram and complaining twins, I would never attempt to get on the bus with that level of stress.

armchair shopping. now that is a better idea.

Peterh,
Have you tried the Kambah light rail?
I hear it smells of apples

Arghhh…Peter! ACTION just ordered another ‘easy access’ bus just to help you on your shopping trips – you can’t use Home shop now! 🙂

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