The online food delivery industry is booming in times of the Corona.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of it and which products it is better not to buy online.
Especially in the current, Corona-related uncertain times *, you are very happy when you rarely have
to go to the supermarket or discount store to
go
shopping
.
Therefore, more and more people are taking advantage of the opportunity
to order groceries online
.
The delivery industry is booming: delivery services such as Getnow, Rewe or Amazon Fresh have become increasingly popular since the beginning of the corona pandemic.
The e-commerce industry association bevh reports: In the second quarter of 2020, sales in the Internet trade with groceries rose significantly to 772 million euros.
That is almost twice as many compared to the previous year.
According to market experts and forecasts by the Federal Statistical Office, this is a
sustainable development
, which has already emerged, but has
been accelerated by Corona
.
Also read:
FFP2 masks when shopping - You must observe these rules from now on.
Buying groceries online: advantages and disadvantages
The
advantages
are particularly obvious in the current situation: You don't even have to leave your house for your weekly shopping, let alone
expose
yourself to
the
risk of contracting
the corona virus from other customers.
Instead, you
can conveniently
compare the providers (depending on the region)
on your computer from home
, put all the groceries in the virtual shopping cart and pay online.
You can even set a delivery date (in most cases with an exact time frame) so that you will definitely be at home by the time of delivery.
It also
saves you time
and the
need to
haul shopping bags
and boxes.
This is a particularly pleasant advantage for older people or buyers without a car.
Criticisms of online shopping
, as a 2018 report by Stiftung Warentest showed, are the difficult-to-understand compliance with the
cold chain
and the
higher amount of waste
compared to on-site shopping: groceries are often individually packaged for delivery.
In addition, you have to achieve a certain value of goods so that there are no
delivery
costs.
Another disadvantage: when it comes to fruit and vegetables, you cannot decide for yourself which bananas, tomatoes and the like to buy.
For many consumers it is important to look for the best ripe fruits and vegetables in the supermarket for themselves.
Another disadvantage of buying groceries online is simply that you
miss out on
special
discount offers in the store
.
On the other hand, you save yourself
impulse purchases
, which in turn are
not
necessary
when ordering online.
Also interesting:
shopping in lockdown and for quarantine - buy according to this checklist.
Online orders: These foods should never be bought online
There are many
foods
that you can buy online without hesitation.
This is particularly true for long-lasting foods such as rice, canned food and cans, pasta and the like, or heavy products such as drinks.
On the other hand, there are also
foods that it would be better not to order online
.
Avocados
:
Finding the
perfect avocado is a masterpiece: it must not be too unripe, but also not too ripe.
If you order online, the chances of getting exactly the right avocado are very slim.
Tomatoes, peaches and berries
: These are easily perishable fruits that mold quickly and develop bruises easily.
Similar to the avocados, you do not know at what degree of ripeness these foods will arrive at your home.
This makes them unsuitable to buy online, but should be bought in person in the supermarket.
Eggs
: They are also very sensitive and should always be checked in the supermarket so that they do not have any cracks.
Transport with a delivery service could not do the fragile food any good either.
Fish and meat
: If food of any kind is transported for hours without proper refrigeration or is standing in front of your door, that's not a good thing.
But it gets really dangerous with fish that has not been refrigerated in the meantime: Even if you prepare it correctly, you can get sick from it.
The same applies to fresh or frozen meat.
You can still get the best quality at the fresh produce counter.
Also note:
Seasonal shopping: You shouldn't buy these fruits and vegetables in winter.
Click & Collect: Practical pick-up service in the supermarket
The golden mean between shopping in the supermarket and online orders could be found in the “
Click & Collect
”
system
.
In the lockdown, more and more
supermarkets and drugstores
- for example Rewe and dm - are
offering
the option for customers to buy the products online and pick them up at a participating branch.
However, you need the right app and there are usually service fees.
(mad) * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
Sources: tagesschau.de, Stiftung Warentest, chip.de
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