154. Online Grocery Purchase

With the lockdown in place and with knowledgeable people avoiding queues, online grocery purchases are the way forward.  With the goods being delivered right at your doorstep, you don’t have to unnecessarily go outside you home for making grocery purchases.  With so many people crowding in the streets, it is better to avoid them and stay away from risking your health😊.

I am a member of Metro Cash and Carry and used to visit the outlet once a month for buying all the grocery requirements of my house.  Here you get a variety of stuff and also at a lesser price than what you get at your local kirana shop.  I used to purchase the month’s grocery requirements and used to stuff them in my car’s “dikki”!! Sometimes I used to visit here twice a month in case more grocery was required for the month.  I was also purchasing vegetable from Ryuthu Bazar where the prices were less than anywhere else.   These 2 places were the only ones I was using to get the daily essentials. 

With the lockdown and my car being still in repair shop, due to the Hyderabad floods, I had to look for other alternatives for procuring grocery.  During my research, I found out 4 such outlets who were delivering goods at doorstep.  They being BigBasket(app), FTH Daliy(app), Spar(website) and Jiomart(website).

BigBasket charges Rs 2 extra for delivery, per day, irrespective of whatever stuff you order.  If you order today, you can be sure that it will be delivered the next day in the morning at your doorstep.  They have a BBDaily app that I use for ordering.  I get my daily milk requirements from here.  Even though the total cost of the month is just Rs 10 higher than the local milk vendor, since I can get other stuff without having to move out from my house, makes it much better.  You just add some money in your wallet account and the money is automatically deducted as and when the goods get delivered to you.  Pretty convenient.

FTH Daily, I use for vegetables and fruits.  They don’t charge anything extra for delivery.  They too deliver the stuff the next day morning.  You can add money to your wallet as per the bill and then pay for it.  You need not have to keep the wallet filled.  This is also pretty convenient.

Spar – Every week, they take out ads in newspapers where they offer some discounts on the goods.  So, I generally order the discounted goods from here.  For the first order, they took 2-3 days to deliver, but from the second time, they deliver in 1-2 days.  I use them only if I have to purchase a number of goods so that I can fulfil their criteria for the discount😊!!  Usually, a minimum of Rs 1,000 spend.

Jiomart – This is from Reliance.  My cousin had talked about them mentioning that they too offer goods at a very cheap price and similar to what Metro Cash and Carry provides.  They too had come out with ads offering discounts.  So, I used them too for my grocery and vegetable requirements.  They take their own sweet time for delivery.   And moreover, it is not necessary that the stuff that they show online is available with them.  After you have made your purchases, they will send you a mail stating that they are refunding some amount as some of the stuff is not available with them.  I don’t know why they are showing it in their website if they don’t have it in their stocks!!  And then, you just have to wait for the delivery.  Last time, they promised delivery in 2 days and sent me the tracker too.  I even contacted the delivery guy and he promised to deliver it by the same night.  Next morning, I find that the order has been cancelled.  Apparently, if they don’t make the delivery in 2 days, they just cancel the order and ask you to again order.  If you have ordered goods at a discounted price, you now need to order them at the higher price now😊!! 

When my current order got cancelled, I find that some money has been transferred to my wallet and some back to my original mode of payment.  Here too, the total of these 2 payments are less than what I had paid for originally!!  Now if they are doing it on a mass scale, imagine the amount of money they would be making just by cancellations!!  Now I only order from here for stuff that is costly at the other 3 vendors!!

Whenever I need to buy vegetables or fruits, I check the prices in all these 4 sites/apps and order from wherever they are cheaper.  The quality of the vegetable is good from all these places.  Each vegetable is packed separately.  Since I have a lot of time in my hand😊, I have made an excel sheet of the list of vegetable that I order frequently and the prices from these places. I update the sheet once in 15 days before placing the order😊.

For prompt deliveries, BBDaily and FTH Daily are the best.  You are assured that it will reach your doorstep by next day morning.  Spar will take 1-2 days.  Jiomart – u can never be sure of the delivery.  So, you go for this only when the price is damn cheaper than the other places😊!!

Once my car comes back, I might start my trips to Metro Cash and Carry, but will still be checking if I can get some stuff from others at a cheaper price!!

Cheers!!

Today’s Observation

There are three kinds of people in this world. One who make things happen, one who watches things happen and one who wonders what happened!!