Best and worst supermarket chains for online shopping substitutions revealed including wackiest swaps
THE best and worst supermarkets for online shopping substitutions have been revealed, including the wackiest swaps.
New research from Which? has ranked retailers based on whether shoppers received replacement products in their last shop and the quality of those replacements.
The consumer website asked hundreds of customers for their opinions on eight major supermarkets and online retailers.
These were: Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Amazon Fresh, Iceland, Waitrose and Ocado.
And Which? found Asda and Sainsbury’s were the worst performers out of the list.
The consumer website said 47% of Asda shoppers reported receiving a replacement item in their last home delivery.
The retailer was also given a two out of five star rating for its choice of substitute items.
One Asda customer said they had received bananas instead of pizza, while another said they got a roasting tin instead of roast potatoes.
A third said they had been given a facial cleanser instead of drinking water.
Meanwhile, 32% of Sainsbury’s customers said they had received a substitution in their last shop.
However, the retailer’s choice of replacements earned three out of five stars, putting it above Asda.
Despite this, some shoppers still reported receiving some bizarre replacements on their orders.
One had beef dog treats instead of beef steaks turn up at their door while another received leeks instead of flowers.
Just over 30% of Morrisons’s’ customers told Which? they had received a substituted item in their last order.
The retailer scored two stars out of five for quality of substituted items, like Asda.
The strangest examples reported to Which? included sanitary towels instead of sandwich wraps and fish steaks in place of lemon cupcakes.
Just over at quarter of Amazon Fresh customers were given replacement items in their most recent online shops.
The retailer also received just two stars out of five for its choice of replacement items, with one shopper saying they received six bags of jelly sweets instead of free range eggs.
A quarter of online Tesco shoppers told Which? they had received substitute items in their most recent order.
But, as with Sainsbury’s, the retailer received three out of five stars for the choice of replacement products it sent.
One customer said they received orange-flavour vitamins instead of a Terry’s Chocolate Orange while another said they ordered ham but received cat food.
Around 24% of Iceland shoppers surveyed told Which? they received a replacement product in their most recent online delivery.
The supermarket also received a two star rating for the substitutes they sent.
One Iceland customer told Which? they had ordered a 24-pack of Pepsi Mango and received pasta instead, while another said they were offered oranges instead of ham.
Around one in five Waitrose (21%) and Ocado (19%) customers told Which? that they had received a substituted item in their most recent shop.
Reena Sewraz, Which? money and retail editor, said: “While some product substitutions in your online food delivery can be welcome, our research has shown that they can also be well wide of the mark – ranging from strange to completely inappropriate.
“If you receive a replacement that you don’t want, you can reject it on arrival or you sometimes can opt out of receiving substitutions altogether, although your dinner plans could be disrupted if key ingredients don’t show up.
“If you do end up with something you won’t use, always contact the supermarket and ask for a refund.”
How to save money on your food shop
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save hundreds of pounds a year:
Odd boxes – plenty of retailers offer slightly misshapen fruit and veg or surplus food at a discounted price.
Lidl sells five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags which contain £10 worth of all kinds of products for £3.30.
Sainsbury’s also sells £2 “Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me” fruit and veg boxes to help shoppers reduced food waste and save cash.
Food waste apps – food waste apps work by helping shops, cafes, restaurants and other businesses shift stock that is due to go out of date and passing it on to members of the public.
Some of the most notable ones include Too Good to Go and Olio.
Too Good to Go’s app is free to sign up to and is used by millions of people across the UK, letting users buy food at a discount.
Olio works similarly, except users can collect both food and other household items for free from neighbours and businesses.
Yellow sticker bargains – yellow sticker bargains, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way of getting food on the cheap.
But what time to head out to get the best deals varies depending on the retailer. You can see the best times for each supermarket here.
Super cheap bargains – sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups like Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post hauls they’ve found on the cheap, including food finds.
“Downshift” – you will almost always save money going for a supermarket’s own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.
The move to lower-tier ranges, also known as “downshifting” and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.
What did the supermarkets say?
When choosing substitutes for online shopping deliveries, supermarkets consider a range of factors, including brand similarity, price point and availability.
However, Which? suggested computer-generated replacements may be wide of the mark and pickers with targets to meet may give up on choosing a sensible swap.
It’s worth bearing in mind, most supermarkets allow customers to opt out of receiving replacement items altogether to save any hassle.
Others will email or text notifying you of any swaps before your delivery arrives so you have the chance to refuse them.
All the supermarkets in Which?’s survey allow customers to hand back unwanted substitutions to the delivery driver or when they pick up a click and collect and receive a refund.
The consumer website approached Amazon Fresh, Asda, Iceland, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco about the strange substitutions reported by shoppers in its survey.
An Asda spokesperson said it always did its best to ensure customers receive relevant substitutions.
They added: “We don’t charge more for substitutes, even where the item has a higher value, and where the replacement item is of less value we refund the difference to the customer.
“Our own data shows the vast majority of substitute items are accepted, and overall customer satisfaction is high, so we have asked Which? to provide us with the details of these orders so that we can investigate what may have happened in these instances.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson told Which?: “If a product a customer has chosen for their groceries online order is no longer available, our colleagues are trained to pick an alternative that’s as close as possible to the original item.
“We’re sorry that on the rare occasion this might not be quite right, our customer satisfaction scores tell us that our substitutions have improved over the last few years.”
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