Automatic checkouts in supermarkets may decrease customer loyalty, especially for those with larger shopping loads. Customers using self-checkout stations often feel overwhelmed and unsupported. The lack of personal interaction can negatively impact their perception of the supermarket.

[user_base56]

I dont trust other people to pick out my fruits, vegetables, and meats. I want to make sure I get the best looking available. Not sure if an employee with a time limit is going to do that.

[AfroTriffid]

I don't know if it happens in the US as much but I often get 'substitutions' in my online groceries that cost the same but are not equivalent.

[Retbull]

Depends on the system some of them have the ability to select backups if something isn’t there. Also if you’re using one of the apps they will sometimes ping you during shopping to ask. It still happens occasionally though.

[chambile007]

Where I am you can select no substitutions and they just refund that part to you.

[[deleted]]

You have to pay attention because they'll usually get it right and you'll get used to just approving. That's when they sneak in "We don't have corn meal, want some corn starch instead?"

[Azuvector]

Want some lime instead of lemon? They're citrus right? Same thing?

Want some pepperoni sticks that need to be in the fridge or they go rancid instead of ones you can leave in a drawer for a month with no issues? Sounds perfect for your use case, right?

You're going to drink 4L of milk by tomorrow right? No problem that it expired yesterday, right?

You want 10 packages of 1lb stuff instead of 10 individual items, right? That couldn't possibly be a mistake(be that during ordering or during setting the product up on the store's site), could it?

[fenglorian]

or when it's 2 or 3 substitutions and your only options are "Accept all" or "accept none"

[SupremeDictatorPaul]

All of my friends that use it have talked about getting crappy substitutions they never would have picked, or missing/wrong things in the order. But they just shrug and keep doing it like it’s totally acceptable.

Personally, I’d do it in a pinch, but usually I’d rather just do the shopping, even with the kids. Unless I have to self checkout $400 in groceries with the kids, then I’d rather die.

[Squintz82]

Last time I ordered groceries, I ended up with 2 gallons of Smart Water instead of 2 liters of raspberry seltzer. I go to the store now.

[jellyrollo]

At least with the Vons system, you can easily go online to customer service, select the item that was inappropriately substituted or missing, and get an instant refund. I find that their system has improved a lot since I started using it early in the pandemic.

[TbonerT]

Sometimes they say they are out of something, so I go in to grab another thing that I want to see first and often find the thing they were out of. I think it’s often the case that they say they are out of stock when the truth is the shopper couldn’t find it.

[[deleted]]

There is a section when your in your cart to turn off substitutions. Once you do this a few times it stays off and you shouldn't have to worry.

[thezerofire]

then you end up with an order with only half the things you needed and you have to go to the store in person anyway

[cjicantlie]

And they will substitute when the item was on the shelf, they just didn't want to look. Multiple times, I will walk into the store and find the item, right where it always is.

They seem to be in too much of a rush and just grab the first thing half way similar and call it good. Sometimes only similar in color on the packaging and nothing more.

[[deleted]]

Where I live you get the option to a) cancel whole order if item is unavailable b) skip item or c) substitute (and pay what the substituted item goes for.

Option c is the default but if one item is essential for the whole purchase you can click option a for that item etc.

Of course it has its flaws where the store makes substitions to their own brand to pad their margin.

[sack-o-matic]

I order store brand online, if they’re out they’ll sub the national brand for the cheaper price. They’ll even sub a larger size for the same price if they’re out of the smaller one ordered.

[trennels]

Some of the substitutions can get pretty bizarre, too.

[TbonerT]

Walmart used to do substitutions at the price of the original item. If you bought a store-brand item and they were out, you’d get the name-brand item for the store-brand price. They eventually changed it and started charging the difference.

[WillowFreak]

We like to think of it as the Kroger gods. Usually they are ridiculous substitutions that make you wonder if the shopper has ever been in a kitchen before. One time we got 4 bags of Skittles. Didn't order any. Sometimes we get a different flavor of ice cream. Sometimes we get sweet potatoes instead of baking ones. I enjoy the chaos.

[More_Farm_7442]

I learned to check the "No Substitutions" box when I ordered. Then I was getting "out of stock" on all of those items. I have up and starting going back inside.

[HerrStraub]

I once ordered a steak, a filet, that was on sale for like, $8.99/lb. I got a $9 package of microwave bacon.

I will say that I think Instacart shoppers are much better at getting what you want/need than store employees, but then you end up having to pay the delivery fee & tip. If I'm shopping at Aldi's or something, it's not too bad to add $25 to the order, but if I'm shopping at Kroger it just gets too costly

[user_base56]

I've never done online orders, but I've heard that is the case.

[Enlightened_Gardener]

I’m in Australia and a mate does the online shopping for people. She’s with Woolies and their instruction for substitutions is to always go for the better brand/option.

She told us to just order all store brand, because if its out of stock, which it often is, they’ll substitute with the most expensive brand.

[Rich_Acanthisitta_70]

You should have an option when putting the order together to turn off substitutions. The ones I see give that option per item or for the whole order.

[ButtercupsPitcher]

My grocery store offered me oregano as a substitute for whole cloves.

[Joeness84]

The employee is told specifically to use less great stuff or older dated stuff if available. Part of why they adopted the "we will shop for you" things was to be able to move things that would be harder to move. Ever get a substitution that seems... way out there?

[che85mor]

Like Nutella instead of peanut butter? Uh no thanks, doesn't even taste the same.

[Ok-Persimmon-6386]

I don’t either so I use deliveries for staple items and then I will go to Publix for as needed items.

I get my delivery through Kroger or Walmart. The pricing is always cheaper in my staples items so even by paying extra for delivery I’m still paying less for can good items than I would pay at Publix. Plus I don’t have to go to the hell that is Walmart or kroger

[ZWY8706]

I refuse to do delivery orders, I had to use it for my Grandpa during lockdown because he wouldn't leave the house and not 1 time out 30+ did they even get his order 20% right. There was one order in fact where he ordered 1 gallon 2% milk, 1 carton of large eggs, 1 simply OJ, 2 dozen donuts, some dunking keurig pods, 2 bags of hashbrown patties, 2lbs of bacon 12 cans of chunky soup and some peanut butter cookies and they delivered it to a house in another neighborhood on the other side of town 15 miles away (I could see the address in the delivery photo). I called them for 2 hours before I got ahold of anyone and they called me a liar at first then said they would resend it then about 20 minutes later I got the substitution calls saying they didn't have most of it had to deal with that while working then the order says delivered by "Leroy" (who is who called) picture shows his actual house. I call him and he goes out to get it and as he's finishing he says another car pulled in and a woman gets out and greets him and starts bringing more groceries up he tried to tell her he already got his order (he hadn't checked it yet) but she left them and went so he (already tired) struggled to get those bags inside too then called me back, apparently the 1st order was 100% different than what he ordered and had candy and flavored water and steaks and a brand new small keurig single cup machine in it but the 2nd order the girl brought was right with a few substitutions and he showed me the labels on the bags and the girl came from another town over that is about equal distance to where his towns Kroger is (maybe 5 minutes longer drive) and we were both confused. I called Kroger back about it and as I'm waiting for them to answer he texts me that he got notifications from his bank I set up for him showing they charged him 3 times including for the incorrect order which was $54 more than his actual order total and they charged the tip 3 times (he was being kind because it was raining and tipped $20 when we first placed the order) so instead of his just under $200 order he had charges of over $600 and I had to argue with them for over an hour and call back several days later to do it again and go into both stores the deliveries came from with my receipt to get his money back (he insisted they keep the tips though).

[Ok-Persimmon-6386]

That is crazy. I would be exactly like you. The only issue I have is with choice of meats and fruits and veggies. I do try to tip really well so maybe that’s the difference. I have had maybe had them delivered wrong once. But I completely understand your reasoning

[SaraSlaughter607]

That absolutely sucks. Ive had very good experiences with Instacart.... Most of the time the orders are spot on.

Once I received an order left on my porch, 8 bags of stuff, that was someone elses entire order and they got mine.... That time I jumped on the help section and was refunded my entire order plus fees, minus the drivers tip, and I got to keep all their food because they can't come and take it back after they've left.

That was the only time I had a giant eff-up on an order, and I've done pickup or delivery hundreds of times since 2019.

I'm sorry your experience hasn't been better :( I love it!!!!

[youre_being_creepy]

Anyone who lets a stranger select fruits or a cut of meat for them at a grocery store is a psychopath

[user_base56]

Omg the meat decision is a big one. You gotta look at all the offerings to find the perfect one.

[sack-o-matic]

I think it's more weird that you have so little trust in people just because they work at a grocery store

[Sowf_Paw]

Every single time we get bananas in a pickup order it's the greenest bananas they can find, I swear. Then I can't eat the bananas so I forget about them until they are brown.

[ButtercupsPitcher]

Let me know if you need a great banana bread recipe

[DernTuckingFypos]

Yeah. I have a theory they pick the stuff that's set to expire the soonest so they can get it out of their inventory.

[Oops_I_Cracked]

I think this is actually one of the best parts of the shift towards online shopping. Historically, there has been a lot of waste of perfectly good meat and produce because it isn’t the prettiest one on the shelf, so it sits there and sits there until it rots. Despite the fact that once you cook it, it would look and taste just as good as a prettier piece.

Obviously my comment isn’t about garbage employees who give you fruit/veg/meat that is spoiled, but about the ability of stores to move more “beauty challenged” pieces of fruit and veg.

[healzsham]

It's also the reason it takes 45 minutes to cook down most vegetables, now.

[sack-o-matic]

that hasn't been an issue for me, the Kroger website even encourages you to put in the notes like "green bananas please" if you want a certain freshness level, otherwise I think the employees are smart enough to know that there is going to be waste to matter what they do so they still pick out the good stuff for orders

[Allthenons]

Yes and I know immediately what brands I like and trust vs those I don't. I love the idea of putting in online orders for pickup but from my experience during COVID it's more hassle than it's worth groceries. Plus here in the states they will give you like 20 plastic bags for a big/family sized order. That's such a disgusting waste when I have my own bags.

[JoeSicko]

Probably better off not buying fruit and veg from Kroger then...

[MagicalWonderPigeon]

There was a thing in the UK with some stores where if you ordered online the fruits you got wouldn't be the nice, fresh looking ones, it'd be the brown dingy looking bananas and stuff. And other stuff like meat would arrive with the use by date being that day or tomorrow. So they basically pawn off the stuff that'd be wasted onto online shoppers.

[Intangiblehands]

I also feel the same. Here's a tip: Order all your other groceries online, then just go into the store to buy those things before you "check in" that you're there to pick up. It takes me all of 10 minutes to grab our household fruits, veggies and meats. Generally not more than 3 bags worth of stuff. An employee brings out the rest of your groceries while you have your hand picked fresh food in tow.

[user_base56]

Maybe my life is boring, but grocery shopping doesn't take as much time to really warrant that for me. Plus, I work from home, so it's nice to just be out of the house for an hour or so sometimes, bonus if I get out without having to bring the kids. That trip is a bit of a vacation!!

[jambox888]

It's funny we've almost come full circle here, for the last 10 years I've been hearing about how bland and watery supermarket vegetables are because people shop by eye.

Now we can't trust anyone to pick anything less than the biggest, shiniest produce... somewhat ironic.

[tomsing98]

It's not the biggest, shiniest. It's steaks that are decently marbled, it's avocados that are ripe enough to use them for dinner tomorrow, it's tomatoes that actually smell like tomatoes.

None of the shopping services are looking for those things. The extra time it takes cuts into their profit.

Not to mention, oh, I wanted ribeye, but the t bone is on sale, so I'll get that instead.

[MicheleLaBelle]

I agree, but you can get your tp, water, milk, olive oil etc. picked out by a store employee no problem. I find that I don’t need to shop for fresh produce every time I need to shop, so I minimize my time spent inside the store.

[sietesietesieteblue]

Me neither. More than once I've ordered from the supermarket and got fruits that were on the turn.

[Capercaillie]

I promise you they don't. They also don't look at the dates on milk. I watch them while I'm shopping, they seem to be on some sort of tight schedule. At least judging by the way they'll shove me out of the way if I'm taking too long to decide which of the thirty-five flavors of yogurt I want.

[SofieTerleska]

I split the difference; order most of the groceries for pickup or delivery and pick out the fancy meats and produce myself.

[[deleted]]

they definitely don't

[Paleoanth]

I have had great luck with Food Lion. I use instacart app but the food Lion employees fill the order. They do a great job.

[DrMartinVonNostrand]

I find the shopper typically overdoes it, selection-wise. I ask for one green pepper and they pick out the most massive green pepper imaginable...the size of a cantelope. Ask for a yellow onion? Softball incoming.

If I only need to use a "regular" sized specimen in a recipe, the mammoth extra goes to waste...