Anne-Marie Senior’s shopping on the internet

Sep 11 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

INTERNET shopping – I used to be its greatest critic after a few failed attempts, the worst of which saw our new cot mattress end up in the Isle of Man for two weeks.

Another made me the proud owner of a size 6 petite coat when I’d actually ordered a batch of very large maternity clothes.

But somewhere between dragging two young children around the supermarket and a few near-shoplifting incidents, I decided to give it a go.

After all, if paying someone £3 to relieve my shopping worries worked, who was I to argue?

My husband was dubious – stating he was always happy to carry out the weekly chore. However, he would need a detailed list – and there the problem lies. Week after week, I frequently missed the most vital items from our shopping. You might think some form of initiative would prevail on the male part, but not in our house.

So, last week, I reluctantly turned my efforts to the web. The first job was to book the delivery slot. Very straightforward.

Now came the bit I was dreading, selecting our list of products. The site I used was extremely easy to navigate and I actually think I did a better job of choosing what we bought than if my true child-distracted self had visited the store in person.

I saved pounds taking full advantage of special offers I’m sure I usually have to ignore in a bid to escape as quickly as possible. And you can keep updating your list until the night before your delivery if, like me, you can’t remember everything at once.

But then came judgement day. Would my £3 have bought me a trolley load of duff vegetables and grainy cuts of meat?

The answer was no. When the delivery driver knocked at my front door, I could have kissed him.

Not only was he running to time, he offered to carry all the heavy bags into my kitchen too. Wow, now I was impressed.

It was like getting presents – until I realised the bags of gifts held nothing more exciting than tins of baked beans and loaves of bread.

But all in all, my new shopping experience has completely liberated me.

No longer will I have to queue in busy checkout lines, or worse still, be forced to join the new and awful phenomenon of ‘self-service’.

I didn’t do so well this week, mind, after forgetting to select any vegetables whatsoever, but what can I say?

I’m still learning.