Why I won’t be using Amazon for my weekly food shop

used this article to emphasise not to believe everything you read (to yr 10's) The article should have been researched more thoroughly-ie-the Walker's crisps were quoted as 12.12 a bag-comparing them to Tesco's for 2.49-they are not the same weight therefore the increase in price (24grams compared 175 grams per pack of 12-went to Amazon's website to conduct my own research.

I have not read the article but I would never ever ever use Amazon again. I had to return a telephone/fax machine that did not work and the postal charge was extremely expensive.

Thanks Amazon but no thanks.

Ken Malloy ex mug.

If i remember back to the fist days of the large supermarkets going online, some comments were very similar to yor own.

Perhaps Amazon have attempted to much at the first hurdle. A restricted staple food list would have been a better starting point but i think they will crack the interface alot faster than their grocery friends did.

Anonymous 1,

Thank you for your comment. However, after double checking my own research I wanted to explain that Amazon’s website states the product weighs 175g per 12 pack of crisps, while Tesco, Ocado and Sainsbury’s state the product weighs (12x25g).

Meanwhile, on Amazon a box of 48 packs of Walkers crisps costs £17.50, working out at over £4 per 12 packs, again more expensive than other supermarkets.

Let's not quibble over the details: I'd gladly pay 12 squid for my cheese n' onions, so long as I get my 37" LG, HD, FREESAT, FREEVIEW TV for slightly less than a year's rent.

That said, I don't care much for crisps. I prefer potatoes. Will Amazon peel them for me? Now THAT'S a service I'm willing to pay for!

Free delivery is all well and good, but will this service really deliver? I doubt it. I for one will be sticking to my local farmers' market, when I can put my hands on the things I buy (and many of the things I won't).

But that isn't the point. Even if most of UK plc shares my blinkered view, that doesn't mean it won't work for Amazon.

It is highly unlikely they intend to turn this into a significant profit driver for the business. While they have sufficient scale to discount, and one of the most respected brands in the world, it will be nigh-on impossible to build market share given the high degree of brand loyalty in this space.

It would also require colossal marketing spend to build credibility, and that's not the Amazon way. In fact, touting their wares as a grocer could run the risk, albeit a small one, of diluting the company's reputation (and earnings) in the sectors in which it already leads.

Even if Amazon can offer a best-of-breed user experience (entirely possible given their track record) I doubt they can make this work because, shopping list aside, online grocery shopping requires less bells and whistles than other retail segments, such as electronics.

How, after all, do you review a banana? What use will it be to be told "customers who bought apples also bought pears"? (Now that I think about it, though, it could be quite fun – and I'd love to get my grubby paws on an Amazon carrier bag).

As you'd expect from these guys, there is some great functionality. The "find your tea" drop-down menus, for eaxmple, are a nice touch. And the search, like a fine wine (which they also stock), will get better with age.

Ultiamately though, unless they are hiring the chip n' dales as delivery boys, this is a likely loss-leader play, with the upside being the ability to cross-sell more expensive products at market-leading prices while building its credit card business.

To put it another way, it's the evolution of the one-stop-shop / all-things-to-all-men model that Tesco has been so ominously developing for years.

At this rate, Amazon will soon be building homes, villages, and hopefully rebuilding the rainforest! Heaven knows they'll need some lumber to make more of that lovely packaging.

In the meantime, bring home the bacon.

Hah!

navarino man this is funny stuff! :-)

yep ...reminds me of the old ..comedians.

was that ...( fork handles ).. or.. ( four candles )

I tried ordering Marmite 125G at £1-85 only to find Shipping charge added £5.01. At least cancellation was straightforward!