Before I moved to the UK in January 2010, I had never ordered groceries online. But I live in a small village and the closest big grocery store is a 20 minute bus ride or car ride away. My husband works shift work for the railway, and I haven't yet mastered driving here (I'm from the US). Being able to do my weekly shop from Tesco online and scheduling a delivery has saved so much time and money. There are no impulse buys because I just search for exactly what I need. The Tesco pickers pick as though they are doing their own grocery shopping so pick the best fruit and meat with the longest use by dates. If you get something you don't like, you simply send it back with the driver.

I absolutely love online grocery shopping. Plus, when it snowed, I still had groceries and didn't have to go out!

I ordered from Fresh Direct about once a week when I lived in NYC. They had much higher quality products than my neighborhood grocery store in Astoria/LIC. Now that I have moved away from the city, I desperately miss the convenience and ease of online grocery shopping ! I had become rather addicted to Fresh Direct's easy website and ever-growing variety of products.

I purchase a lot of beauty and household items (shampoo, cleaning supplies) online, but not much food. I'm a 1/2 list/1/2 what grabs me grocery shopper, and just love going to the grocery store to see what meats and produce are on sale...plus when I shop online, I tend to buy more than what I would in a store...dangerous.

I found this service most helpful when I was on maternitiy leave with my second daughter. She was born in early February and it happened to be one of the coldest on record for our area. It was so great to be able to just stay in our nice cozy house and have someone bring all the groceries we needed. Way better than bundling up a tiny baby and venturing out into the cold. I don't do it much now (that baby is almost 4 now, hard to believe!), but I would definitely recommend it if getting out to the store is challenging.

I've ordered online once or twice but usually just go to the store. However, my husband is beginning to hate grocery shopping more and more, and while I don't mind going on my own, I'm not opposed to his suggestion of ordering online again. The service we have in our area actually gets access to fresher produce than what goes out to the "floor" of the grocery store - they get first pick of stuff when it comes off the truck, before it gets put out into the grocery store! It may not be an every time thing, but I'm sure we'll order online again at some point in our lives.

Here's another big yes vote! I like European-style shopping when it's warm--i.e. seeing what's good at the farmer's market, going to the Eastern european dude who makes good sausage, stopping at the Middle Eastern store for feta and grains. But when it's -20 windchill outside in Chicago and I have to walk over a mile or wait for a bus to get to the main produce store? Forget about it!

Peapod is our saving grace. We shop about twice a month from there and I go for all the veggies that are on sale. Their organic produce is sometimes on sale too, making it much cheaper than usual--I got dinosaur kale and carrots last week for ridiculously cheap. Add on the ability to get heavy things like detergent and big things of toilet paper, and I'm sold. I agree that buying seafood or meat from Peapod could be sketch, but we eat so little of that, I'm willing to make a special errand trip on the rare occassion that we eat meat or fish. Will definitely continue to order online for the rest of the winter and supplement with specialty stores when I happen to be walking nearby them.

My grocery shopping trips are my relaxing time. I get satisfaction from inspecting my food first hand. I also get time away from the little one as we've designated it "mommy time." I don't think I could trust anyone else to pick out my food, even if they're paid to do it.

I live on the UES in NYC and I hate ordering from fresh direct. The only time I use it is if I've been gone for the weekend and I know I won't have time to shop that week so i shcedule a delivery for Monday night. My grocery store (Morton Williams) is cheaper and generally has better produce, plus they have 1$ delivery. Yes, the walk yesterday sucked (about 5 blocks including 1 ave) but it's worth it. Also, I take the trip to Chinatown and TJ's when needed to get stuff Fresh Direct doesn't have anyway

I do not know if we have a fresh produce etc service in our small size city. I think I will look today as it is REALLY COLD and I don't want to go out.

I'm with LovieDovie--I enjoy grocery shopping and find it very relaxing. But I can see, especially as we grow older, having things like the 20 pound bags for cat litter delivered.

I broke my foot, with a number of small kids!!! And it literally saved our lives!!! But they never had more than a weeks supply in stock so I couldn't do a monthly shop and had to pay delivery fees each time, I found it annoying... I would rather do a big shop and the job is done!!!

I used to but got frustrated, if they didn't have something in stock that I put on my list they would just delete it and not tell me. It is not a great time saver if half the time I have to go to the store to replace what was missing from my order. Sometimes I wouldn't realize something was missing until I am in the middle of preparing a meal and am SOL.

I'm a big fan of Fresh Direct for carrying the heavy stuff. There is no need to personally select a can of pumpkin. On the rare occasions they have brought me a dented can, I've complained and been refunded, no problem. Their new produce rating system helps a lot: I just order the 4-star items.

I love shopping in person, but with a long commute and a young child, the pleasure of it can be overshadowed by the inconvenience of it very fast, especially in the cold/snow/rain/sleet.

This sentence kills me: "This type of service doesn't have the same appeal in more traditional cities where grocery shopping and transportation aren't as much of a challenge." -- in traditional cities, one shops at a local markets a short walk from one's house or apt. Or do you think American cities like LA are traditional? (Although even in LA you can find a really wonderful european style market downtown on Broadway.)

In any event, I dislike Fresh Direct -- and there are so many wonderful markets in my neighborhood (Upper West Side, NY) that I usually buy things on the way home each night.

AND -- I hate those idling Fresh Direct trucks on my block (and throughout the city) -- noisy, polluting, hardly green-friendly!

I love ordering groceries online. The only time I can get to the grocery store is after my 9 to 5 or on the weekends and the store is always packed. Add that to the already cramped stores (I live in a city) and it's just a terrible experience.

I don't order online as much as I used to, but I think I'd like to start again. I've never gotten bad produce and i don't mind the day or two of waiting.

@ Mid-C Frank: I agree, the trucks can be annoying, but they probably are "green" considering how many people are not driving thanks to the one truck. just a note.

I've never ordered groceries online, but I can see a lot of good arguments for doing so. I live in Brooklyn, and luckily have a supermarket a block away. Their produce is unreliable, but we're lucky because there is a small family-run fruit/veg/Asian market right across the street. Even if we did order dry goods online, my housemates and I would keep buying our fresh stuff from this shop; it's high quality, fairly priced, and owned by a really nice family. Those are great reasons to strap on the snow gear.

I ordered groceries from a local supermarket chain when my daughter was first born. It was just the two of us, and I wasn't about to take her into the freezing winter. I didn't have a bad experience, I didn't have a great experience. I don't mind grocery shopping, so it wasn't like I saved myself a huge hassle. And I didn't get to use coupons on anything, so that sucked.

In in NYC's East Village with a Key Food four blocks away and Whole Foods a mere three. Shopping at the former isn't such a great experience - and while strolling through Whole Foods is always fun and sexy (oh, the produce...) I'm still stuck with getting it home and UP THE STAIRS. I keep a FreshDirect order running - when I think of what I want I add it to the cart and I'm done. The few times I've had issues (broken eggs, bananas too ripe, etc.) I've called and received a credit on my next order. I tip the delivery guys on top of the delivery fee, but for me it's about the ease of ordering exactly what I want (heavy watermelons, soft drinks, cabbages...)and the luxury of standing at the door of my 4th floor walk-up when they're humping it up the stairs. Add to that the elimination of impulse buying from Whole Foods - coming home with interesting produce and seafood that's gorgeous but expiring while you figure out why the hell you bought it isn't fun.

I live a block away from a grocery store, but as a law school student, I have to make choices like, "Do I eat or wash my hair today?" No time for both. I order most of my groceries from Amazon Fresh (Seattle), and the quality of the food is far and away superior to the grocery store. I worked out how much more expensive it is, and if someone asked me how much I would be willing to pay to shave some hours off of my calendar, I'd be making off with a bargain here. (Relaxing at the grocery store sounds like something out of a not-very-believable romance novel to me.)
During the fsummer months, I'll pick up my produce at the farmers market first.

Another Fresh Direct junkie here. I'm still not super happy about the amount of packaging (when I buy produce at the grocery store I rarely put them in individual plastic bags) but my current schedule--full time work, part time grad school--doesn't allow me much time for grocery shopping, and the produce options in my neighborhood absolutely suck. Fresh Direct's produce ratings are really accurate and they have great organic and local choices too. In the end it saves me a lot of time and money because I don't have to take the time to actually go shopping and I can just get cooking, meaning I spend way less on eating out. Once I am done with school and have some more time, I will try to cut back on my Fresh Direct habit, but now it really works for me and helps keep me cooking :)

I live in Seattle and a lot of my friends love Amazon Fresh.

My CSA also has a large selection of organic and local grocery items like coffee, cheese, eggs etc. which they will deliver each week with the produce box. I've been finding it really convenient for things like coffee, pasta, eggs and even meat.

I haven't read the comments yet, so I don't know if anyone else has posted this, but in England, most of the grocery stores offer online grocery shopping. We didn't have a car when we lived there, so online ordering was a great way to stock up without having to haul bags up a hill. There were a few drawbacks, but it made shopping a lot easier at times.

I love 'Basis Good Food to You' ( www.basisfoods.com). It's a service that is farmer to consumer. Every two weeks I get a bag of fruit and one of vegetables. I also order eggs (awesome eggs) and milk in my regular delivery. This week I added burrata, mozzarella and bacon.

Prices are good and everything is farmers market fresh. If you're in NY I highly recommend it.

I'm in Seattle, where Amazon Fresh is available and super-easy. I work from home, and sometimes grocery shopping is a nice excuse to get out of the house, but sometimes it's just a huge hassle. And since I'm not getting in the car (or other mode of transportation) at the end of the day and driving past grocery stores, I wind up with a lot of "oh crap, it's getting late and I don't have time to go to the store, cook dinner and eat it"...but online grocery ordering and a dash of meal planning, which isn't really my strong suit but oh well, make these moments at least less frequent.

I like in the UK and I'm a grad student. Currently writing up so I have very little time for shopping, so even though I love grocery shopping I tend to get deliveries once a month. Most of the things I get delivered are non-perishables, like household stuff, canned food and pantry staples. Fresh food like veg, milk, meat and fish I like to buy at the farmer's market once a week. Not only does this save time but also means I don't have to carry everything on a bus, and because I don't live near a large grocery store I get more choices by shopping online.

@ Mid-C Frank - True, LA isn't quite a "traditional" city, but many more residents have cars, and easier means of transporting groceries, than people who live in NYC. I think it's far more traditional in the US for people to drive to the local grocery store, buy items for the week, and load them into their car. More power to those of you who walk to your local store - I have a routine of grocery shopping at a few specialty stores in my neighborhood but in inclement weather and when I'm buying a large number of items, I turn to delivery.

@ happycamper2168 - Oh, I feel your pain. I used to live in a 5th floor walk-up and those extra stairs at the end of a shopping trip really kill you!

I'm in DC and find a combination of Arganica (local and organic delivery) and Peapod works for me with the odd trip the farmers market or supermarket to supplement as needed

Stephanie: My beef is your use of the word "traditional". American cities like LA are "modern". A better phrase might have been "typical American....." (Full disclosure: I majored in Urban Studies)

But I see from responses that even folk with cars seem to enjoy delivery for other lifestyle reasons (e.g. new baby, or busy schedules).

I would love to use this for my elderly folks in Fort Lauderdale. They still get around but the stairs leading up to their place takes a toll on them. Online ordering would really help them out.

We do order a lot of bulky household supplies off amazon if the price is better. Thanks like 100 rolls of toilet paper or unscented hand soap refills that are hard to find.

But we shop weekly at the farmer's market all year and fill in with a quick run to Whole Foods (two walking distance) or Trader Joes (across the street) or at lunch. We also go to individual bakery, fishmonger, and butchers.

I live in LA so I am always in my car.

I live in San Francisco, and used to use Safeway's delivery service all the time. They often had coupons/code for free delivery, but you had to spend over $150 which isn't always easy when shopping for 1. I also often found I got the bottom of the barrel produce. I think they took whatever was oldest and sent that out for delivery. I found when I went to the store the produce was much better. Meat was less of an issue, bc if it is close to its use by date you could just throw it in the freezer. Once I got a scooter it was easier to just to the store, get what I needed for the next couple days and go once or twice a week. I found I wasted less food bc I used everything right as I bought it!

I'm in Boston, and Boston Organics is great. It's a cross between a CSA and grocery delivery. Fresh, organic produce delivered weekly, with optional "no-lists" and add on grocery items like dairy, granola, eggs, etc. I love it! http://www.bostonorganics.com

I order everything to be delivered - everything, I simply do not shop in person on a regular basis. Fresh Direct for food, 67 Wines for wine/liquor, drugstore.com for household, wherever I am buying clothes and shoes - all delivered. Have to get something from Home Depot? I will have it delivered or it will take me weeks to go to the store and get it. I love it and I rarely get items that I don't need just because they call my name from the aisle.

I would love to have the luxury to go from market to market and buy from the specialty producer, etc, but I don't have the time. I do go on vacations for that, i.e. rent an apt in Paris or Madrid or Buenos Aires, and I food shop in a leisurely fashion.

Caveat: I try to go to Essex Market once a month, even though it is right above my train stop, I don't get there before close.

I love Amazon Fresh, but have had a couple issues - once delivered to the wrong apartment (?!?!), once the milk and orange juice was in a bag without any cool pack things (and since I have them leave it on my doorstep while I'm at work, who knows how long it was out there!), and a couple mediocre produce experiences. But considering the "grocery store" nearest me is ridiculously expensive and I would have to carry everything a few blocks home, I keep using Amazon Fresh! Especially great for larger things, liquid things, and canned things (so heavy for the few blocks...).

I would do it if I was laid up and had no choice, but I think friends would help out. I agree that you would gamble on the whole fresh produce thing. And I often plan my menu around what looks good in the store, so my vote is no. I live in the city and my rule of thumb is, if I can't carry it, I don't need it. Keeps me from buying a bunch of stuff I won't use anyway.

I'm a convert for things that don't require a judgment call, but produce and meat I still need to make my selections. I also do a lot of planning around what looks good in the store, so I mostly only deliver when I need to restock on bulky, heavy pantry items--I don't have a car, so it's worth it to me to have that kind of thing ordered in. Or, when I'm sick or it's AWFUL outside.

It's a service that seems to exist only in big cities, so no. I live 3 blocks from a grocery store so I just walk and get my groceries (I live in Canada too). I'd love a service like that but if it costs extra then I might as well just take a cab and get my own groceries.

Big yay -- I get my groceries delivered -- it's easier for me to stay on budget and make fewer impulse buys by doing it online. But I still do weekly fresh meat and produce runs. If the store where I get my fresh food delivered I do the whole thing via delivery.

Although I only live about two miles from the supermarket (and own a car) I still buy my shopping online. I stock up on staples that I need every two weeks as well as vegetables. As mentioned above, Tesco are excellent and their pickers are very good. They also have a large organic range which is pretty good quality too.

I still shop for some of my meat, my fresh fish and a couple of speciality bits in town (on my way back from work - by foot) but I like the convenience of not having to run my car every week just to go to the supermarket.

Plus it saves me a TON of money, I can see all the special offers, compare prices and pick the best deal. I never buy extras online either, because I'm just not tempted - I usually shop online after my dinner so that I'm not hungry while I shop!

I'm disabled so ordering online isn't just a convenience for me, it's a must. We have two delivery services in my area, Peapod and Josephine's. I initially tried Josephine's but switched to Peapod and have used them for the past two years. I have been very happy with all the fresh items I've ordered (produce, dairy and meats) plus their delivery charge is much cheaper than Josephine's and that's important when you're on a fixed income.

I live in Las Vegas, don't own a car and am a delivery convert! I love drugstore.com and amazon.com and have never had any problems with them. Veggies, meat and dairy I'll lug home but if my local oriental foods market delivered I would totally order from them too. When the average temp is over 120 degrees home delivery is a luxury I am willing to afford.

I understand why people (especially in NY where no one has a car) do it. But I live in Philly and have a car and am way too much of a control freak to do this. I don't even like when the people in the grocery store bag my stuff for me!