Le Drive

[idun]

I was quite surprised to see on the news tonight that le drive had really taken off in France. 5 million shoppers use it, or so they said.

My local SuperU, did it years ago, but I didn't know anyone who used the service. In my naievety, I had hoped that ordering food from them would mean that it would be delivered, but when I found out that I would have to pick it all up, it sort of lost it's charm for me.

I sometimes order my shopping via the internet in England, but I always have it delivered. And in Iceland, one shops and then, as they would do in the days of my child hood,  deliver later, but not, get an order ready to collect.

Apparently Leclerc have entrepots instead of supermarkets where one simply picks up the groceries.

Do any of you use this service, that is booming in France.

[Mac]

This system is also now being tried in the UK . A lot of working mums hate the actual shopping bit but are quite happy to pick up their shopping on the way home from work ect. I can see the appeal of this system although I never used internet food shopping when I worked( manager for a large supermarket so a bit pointless really!!). The thought of using some of your precious day off -if you worked full time- or trawling around the shop after work fills some people with dread. And having to hang aroung for your shopping to be delivered when you could be doing something else is also annoying if you have limited free time so I think that this could be a great service.

[Pierre ZFP]

Auchan are pushing this quite hard.  Like a fool I signed up for it before realising there wasn't a pick-up depot near me so now I get bombarded with emails about special offers.  While I can see this idea working for basic stuff, I wouldn't use it for fresh fruit/veg/meat etc as I like to select exactly what I'm going to eat.

I don't know how popular the Auchan service is.

[dave21478]

In my nearest towns SuperU and LeClerc both do this and have done for some time and Auchan are currently knocking up a new building at the end of their carpark to house their version.

I registered with the SuperU scheme a while back, but it failed at the first hurdle as the online selection of groceries is much smaller than what is available in store, with a lot of products and sizes of packets that I normally buy not being available.

Also, the SuperU collection point uses the same building as their van hire department. When I went through a phase of hiring vans a lot I spent quite a lot of time in there and got to listen to all the other customers as they arrived for their shopping. It was a non-stop litany of "last week I got X instead of Y" or "X was missing from my last order" or the girl was saying "sorry, X is unavailable this week so we missed it off your list..."

I used to use Tesco for home delivery in UK a lot and it was great.

LeDrive is very typical of a new-to-the-French I.T. based concept - half-assed implementation that is a decade behind UK.

Having said that though - most supermarkets ...certainly SuperU....are franchises so perhaps different stores have better systems.

[YCCMB]

They've had one at my nearest Leclerc for a while. Frankly, by the time I've driven the 15 minutes to get there, I might just as well make the journey count by doing the shopping part myself. Also, given the parlous state of freshness of their fruit and veg, and the need for a forensic exam of the meat to make sure it looks as I want it, I'm not sure I'd hand that responsibility to a third party.

I have occasionally used Tesco's home delivery service in the UK, but it bothers me that my nearest Tesco is only a couple of miles away, yet my home delivery comes from a smaller Tesco without the range of my normal branch, and which is about six miles in the opposite direction. So, much as I would prefer to be doing something else, shopping in person still wins out for me.

[Clarkkent]

[quote user="dave21478"]

I used to use Tesco for home delivery in UK a lot and it was great.

 LeDrive is very typical of a new-to-the-French I.T. based concept - half-assed implementation that is a decade behind UK. Having said that though - most supermarkets ...certainly SuperU....are franchises so perhaps different stores have better systems.[/quote]

But my local Tesco now has a number of parking spaces reserved for "Click and Collect" (or something similar). If I understand the notice boards correctly it appears to be an identical service to one which Idun describes - you order your groceries by internet, drive to the parking space, contact the store with the phone provided and someone brings your groceries to you.

Of course the home delivery system still exists ...

[Clair]

Leclerc and Géant started their 'click-and-collect' in Aurillac three or four years ago. Both have a dedicated pick-up point on the side of the building and I assume it's the same for all supermarkets which offer the service.

Some of the supermarkets also offer charge to deliver, but I suspect they're mainly near very big towns, and around here, they don't.

Like most who have posted, I prefer to choose my own meat and veg/fruit.

On the plus side, I absolutely love being able to check prices online before heading out for the weekly shopping.

For instance, last week I did a online comparison of some of the products I buy regularly, and I quickly realised how much more expensive Géant is when compared to Leclerc in Aurillac:

Quaker Oats: 1.73€ at Geant 1.43€ at Leclerc.

Activia Vanille x 12: 3.63 at Géant and 3.14€ at Leclerc.

Then I went shopping in my usual Leclerc, where fancy services are not (yet) available, and realised how much cheaper some of same items were when compared with Leclerc Aurillac (thought the box of Quaker oats was still at 1.43€!)

[idun]

Well I left France 5 years ago, in a few weeks time, and the service was at our SuperU for at least a couple of years prior to that, and probably more like three or four.

I suppose for those working, that the price will matter slightly less than the convenience. AND I can think of one good thing, (since I started this thread) about collecting from a supermarket, and that is that if I had forgotten to list something, it would be easy enough to pop in for one or two items, and just collect the main shop? perhaps[blink]

[Pommier]

Although I can see that 'Drive' could be handy for people who are working, I'm lucky to have time to enjoy shopping and selecting fruit, meat etc. They've had the  Drive service at our local Leclerc for quite a long time, but as has been said, the range is smaller than in the supermarket.

Someone told me that UK supermarkets lose money on deliveries, so I bet they'd love to switch to a collection service.

[BJSLIV]

Tesco Click and Collect is for non-food items only.

It really works , you can order any of the things that you might find in the Argos catalogue, and they will be ready for collection at a local store the very next day. We ordered a Pyrex 2 litre basin, which cost £4 with free delivery. Less than 24 hours later we had an email to say it was ready for collection.It arrived in a box packed in 30 feet of bubble wrap. I don't think they made much profit on that, especially when you consider they use a courier to deliver to store.

And before anyone asks, they don't stock that particular size basin in our local store.

[Val_2]

Leclerc are currently building one here in front of the main town store and another on the outskirts by the dual carriageway to Roscoff.Personally going shopping for me is an event, I enjoy looking at the goods for sale, choosing what I WANT to buy and keeping an eye on what I spend at the same time. Fresh items like meat,veg and fruit need my scrupulous inspection, not someone else choosing,packing and having it ready for me so that when I get home I find damaged or rotten stuff which I cannot proove.

[Rabbie]

Shops like Comet and PC world in the UK have a collect service. You can reserve the goods via the internetand you are then told when they will be available for collection from your nearest store. This means you don't have a wasted journey just to find what you are looking for is out of stock. And it is a little cheaper than home delivery.

[Pierre ZFP]

I think you'll find that you can't get any sort of delivery form Comet now

[Rabbie]

[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]I think you'll find that you can't get any sort of delivery form Comet now
[/quote]You're right[:)]. I was actually thinking of Currys  but had a senior moment[:D] Happens to us all if we live long enough

[Simon]

I am a regular Ocado user here in the UK, and usually do a shop online from France during visits so that a delivery is made the day after we get back. It is really useful and I would love it if something similar was available for when we travel the other way. Much as I like shopping in France, after a 12 hour drive I could do with the following day off!

[Patf]

I haven't seen any evidence of it down here in the various supermarkets. Unless perhaps in the main Carrefour at Auch?

There's a very low level of employment, apart from agriculture. And those who do work get the grandparents to look after the children and do the shopping.