[GA inside] What's your opinion on ordering groceries online?

For me the closest grocery store is about ≈ 40 mins by foot, and buying two bus tickets actually ends costing more than the delivery cost. I find the only real downsides are not being able to see the items your buying (for sizes, and for fresh stuff), and having to wait for them to be delivered unless you want pay extra (2-3 days for me).
Also, since they deliver to several people at once, it probably actually reduces the amount of CO2 if you need to take transport to go shopping.

If you dont like to wait in line you can always go to the self check (cant remember if thats the actual name) line and just put the groceries through the scan and insert the credit card and thats it

never used one...

I don't order online partly because the service in Germany isn't as great as I hoped from experience and I have to pay delivery costs plus I feel that I can miss discounted items if I'm not onsite. For example, if an item you order turns out unavailable, you might get a substitute you aren't satisfied with or if you opt out(choice made before ordering), that delivery won't come with the item that might be a needed one.

So I opt to do the 7 min walk to the supermarket, with a large backpack + shopping handbag, i bring what i need every few days.

Also, some deliveries use cardboard and that's a problem for me because each building has an assigned cardboard bin that only gets collected 2 times a month and it usually fills up within one week of being cleared...so at least half a month or more I have a pile of cardboard stacked at home waiting for the bin to clear, I really don't want to get more if I can help it. Residents in Germany also rely heavily on amazon and that is a monthly accumulation of cardboards by itself...

I hope you can find a way to soothe your anxiety as even if you can opt to continue using online purchases (even if its just for convenience) having the option to do groceries by yourself sometimes can be handy. I assume the anxiety isn't limited to the act of store shopping but being in public...

In Bulgaria you can easily get screwed over even if you're buying in person if you're not paying attention to the expiration dates and sometimes even the overall quality of the thing you're buying. All the bigger international chains seem to dump all their near-expiration or likewise "products they don't really want" stuff here. And the smaller more local ones don't usually get all that great stock either... <.<
Actually, I'm not even sure if we even have online grocery delivery services. Looks it up. Ok, there appear to be a few. I don't know anyone who uses them though. ^_^'

Anyway, yeah, never tried it and don't intend to. I don't really think online grocery shopping is a "thing" here, at least not in my family.

Shamelessly bumping my own thread

Thanks for GA, and i am one of the people that select things before buy. I won't be able to help :/

I get them delivered, but for fresh veg and such I usually go get them myself. The best of both worlds, while also not having to carry a ton of heavy bags back on the bus (especially as a Pepsi Max guzzler, those 12-packs weigh a ton). If you book a delivery slot in advance the charge can be almost nothing, and at least where I live, the various stores also let you pick a broader timeslot at a smaller cost (like, for if you know you're going to be in), so they can organise things easier.

Anxiety is rough though. That stuff pretty much ruined my life already :P
It's worth making a point of doing something that triggers the anxiety on the regular though. Something small, but at your own pace and that you know you can manage or back out of in a worst case scenario. If we get TOO comfortable in our evasion, the anxiety can shrink our comfort zone back down, reverting progress and resilience. It also helps if you have a buddy who knows about it, and you can do tactical strikes out at stuff that makes you anxious. Quicker, easier, and more supported. But make sure you don't press yourself too hard, because trying to challenge your anxiety but walking face-first into a full blown panic attack kinda signals to your unconscious system that "you tried to do the scary thing and you failed badly, you were in danger, so I'm gonna remember and reinforce the negative feedback here".

Once you know what makes you anxious, and have dissected the internal workings, then figuring out the smallest steps you can take and then going through with them is the key, IMO. Going too slow can let your bubble solidify and become harder to grow in, and going too fast is much like trying to sprint up a staircase three steps at a time. It's all good having the momentary bravery to try run at your problem head-on, but taking too many steps at once and too fast, well, like trying to leapfrog up stairs, you'll likely fall backwards and get bruised ;P

Good luck

I take it they don't have self-checkout lanes where you live? Never tried ordering groceries online.

If you're nervous around others try wearing sunglasses next time you're in the store and see if that helps.

Get to know one store and where they´re hidin' their stuff, always see the same people there, acknowledge they´re having shitty days aswell. A more safeguard approach imho, than entrusting your groceries to underpaid staff who might have shitty days too.

But who am i kidding, i´ve ordered my fair share of pizza and that´s about as much trust as you can put into strangers.
So if it´s not too pricey, and you don´t get the idea of underpaid staff by their looks or moods, go for it! :-)

I don't order for I think two or three main reasons:
1: it's more expensive, and not widely available
2: I love to see what I'm buying and browse and find new things ( so - picking fruit, veggies, looking around etc)
3: Going to stores is kinda therapeutic for me - I use it to zone out, to think through what I need, check for interesting things.

Ordering fresh is probably a miss. Cereal and other stuff should be fine on Amazon. Too bad you need Prime to get the best prices though.

My brother does that, but he picks up outside the store himself instead of having them delivered. He just doesn't want to enter the store because he lives in an areas where the store is always massively overcrowded.

I prefer to select my own groceries. I did get a delivery once or twice several years ago (it must have been a gift or a promotion) but I was unimpressed with the produce that had been selected. Getting outside and going to the shops is good for mental health if you are a cloistered hermit like I am (not through choice). Walking to the shop is about the only exercise I get these days, and it also used to be the only social contact before they started pushing the self-checkout option. Regardless, I cannot get deliveries to my home anymore, since they installed a gate without an intercom to the front of the property, preventing access to the building (and couriers do not make telephone calls). I have to go to a post office or courier depot every two weeks to pick up my coffee beans, and I wouldn't like to do that for everything else as well because the supermarket is closer. I don't think the CO2 emitted on the journey from the supermarket to a house is very significant in the production process - the grapes for sale in my supermarket at the moment were grown in USA, which is about 15,000 km away from the point of sale.

Ordering groceries online isn't really available where I live (that I know of). Even if it was it's not something I'd have an interest in. not seeing the quality of the items in person before you buy would be a big problem for me.

I've never ordered them online (nor do I do my own shopping, haha), but I wouldn't be against grabbing some things online, if I could get them cheaper.

Honestly, I can't imagine ordering my groceries online if I'm able to shop for them myself. I like choosing my own produce and considering that both my job and my hobbies involve sitting in front of a computer, I welcome the chance to walk around a bit more.

I think most people have mentioned the main reasons why they prefer IRL grocery shopping over the online version (if that's an option of course) but I would like to add that sometimes, there will be special sales that only customers who are in the store physically would know about... and boy, do I love a good sale! :)