Dear LPG

I visit Lewisham Borough from time to time, because I have an aunt in her 80’s now and she has some Internet knowhow, but her knees are beginning to get a bit dodgy, if you know what I mean. She made the decision that, as the weather begins to get colder again, it would be a good idea to avoid going out to the shops quite so much for the heavy, bulky items, and asked me if I would show her how she could visit a supermarket without having to leave her home. In short, this is the year that she decided to learn about internet food shopping and she decided that I would be the person to guide her through this process.

So, on the appointed day, we got started and, having taken the advice of your article dated 18/01/18, the first thing we did was to register, having chosen to use her credit card for payments.  Then it was off to the grocery section where she decided on putting sugar and milk into her basket to start with. 

We then continued with washing powder and cornflakes, butter and a few other essential items but before we knew it more than half an hour had passed.  I then realised that we were having a really good time as we looked at all the items on offer, and had a little chat about each one of them. I did not realise that my aunt had so many shopping-bag item related stories to tell.   My aunt had reached the end of her shopping list and we had spent about £35.00, according to the laptop screen, by then, and it was only then that we realised that we would have to spend a minimum amount of £40.00.  Most supermarkets have rules in place involving a minimum spend and we were about £5.00 shy of this amount. 

Time was passing, I needed to leave and she did not want to be left with paying online for her shopping by herself so we spent some 20 minutes trying to think of something else to add to the list without success.  It was then that I came up with an idea.  I said, “toilet paper, you will always need toilet paper!” and we bought an 18-role pack.  This solved our problem and we were then able to book a delivery slot and pay for her shopping with relative ease.

I phoned her back a day or so later and she was able to report that she was delighted with her shopping, and we have gone through the process a few times now.  I will soon be able to leave her to shop by herself.

Most internet shops will allow you to put things in your basket and leave them there until you have a big enough amount of shopping to make it worthwhile, but Just in case your online shopping costs come to a little less than the minimum required amount, if you can’t think of anything else, remember my advice to my dear aunt… “You will always need toilet paper!”

DM, Croydon