Substitutions irk online shoppers

DOING your weekly shop on a computer, tablet or smartphone has an obvious appeal.

However, this apparently simple and convenient approach has created a new syndrome called “substitution frustration”.

Supermarkets offer replacement products when items on the online shopping list are not available, with some bizarre results.

A shopper claimed that a bag of salad was replaced with a chocolate. Another ordered apple juice and got a bottle of chardonnay.

A customer, who ordered a pack of condoms, received a pregnancy testing kit.

Details emerged in a survey of more than 7 000 online shoppers by consumer group Which?

It asked participants to give details of their substitution frustrations.

Asda was rated worst, 48% of customers, saying they received a substitute in their online shopping over the past six months, including one who ordered clothes hangers but received dog food and another who got window cleaner instead of mayonaisse.

Amazon Fresh was rated next worst, with 37% of shoppers getting substitutions, followed by Waitrose Deliver (33%) and Tesco Online (30%).

Iceland, which was named best online supermarket by Which? last month, topped the list with a 12% record on substitutes.

Online supermarkets allow users to say they don’t want alternatives sent. Among shoppers in the Which? survey who wished they had exercised that option was one sent dog food instead of gluten free bread. Which? has been unable to verify each claim made by people taking part in the survey and so has not named stores involved.

An Asda spokesman said: “We are working on both reducing substitutions and improving the way we manage them.”

Which? magazine editor Richard Headland said: “Substitutions can have a big impact on how satisfied customers are, so supermarkets should make every effort to get orders right first time.” – Daily Mail