Online Grocery Shopping

 
 
 
 

Vocabulary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Norbert: “Hi. It’s Norbert from Food.de.”

Shopping from the comfort of your home.

The Food.de driver brings the groceries into the kitchen, at prices like that of a well stocked supermarket. All without packaging waste because he takes the packages and cartons for frozen foods away with him.

There’s a flat five euro delivery fee. You can pay by card or pay online with Paypal.

Karin Demming: “There are lots of bottles and heavy products. This way I can save from having to haul it myself, and they bring it right into the kitchen.”

That’s the concept behind Food.de, a complete supermarket just a click away, with sixteen thousand products to choose from.

The start-up delivers from its own vehicles in 29 German cities. Leipzig was the first location.

Orders are put together in a warehouse and delivered immediately. The delivery radius is about 25 kilometers.

Founder Karsten Schaal wants to attract new customers, especially in urban areas.

His target group:

Karsten Schaal: “Everyone who gets hungry—and specifically busy workers, young families and older people. I myself have an 11-month old son. And I’d rather spend time with him than stand in line in a supermarket.”

“I’m quite happy if I don’t have to do that.”

Ordering groceries on the internet. It’s a worldwide trend. Indonesia also has online supermarkets. Here food is delivered by moped.

And the reasons for shopping from home are the same: time savings and convenience.

Asrininda Ferialdy: “Online shopping is very convenient because there’s always a traffic jam in my neighborhood. And I also work in an office from early morning to late at night.”

Online supermarkets in Britain and France have been particularly successful. Tesco and Carrefour are among the top-ten online retailers in Europe.

At Tesco you can even put together a meal plan for the whole week; with meat or vegetarian. The computer suggests recipes and a complete shopping list.

Click on the required ingredients and the delivery service brings everything to your door.

The Finnish creators of the Foodie.fm app make their shopping service even more personal.

Kalle Koutajoki: “It learns your taste profile. As you use the service, it starts to learn what kind of dishes you like, as well as what kind of food you like.”

Letting an app decide what you should eat?

Germans haven’t gone that far yet.

In 2013, online sales of food hit the billion euro mark for the first time.

So far, big supermarket chains such as Reva and Edica, are delivering only in selected areas. Other vendors ship their goods by regular mail.

Food.de prefers personal contact.

Karsten Schaal: “We don’t just send over an old mailman; we send our own driver. They’re full-time employees and they usually also pack the groceries. The driver at your door also represents our company.

If you don’t like a product you can give it back right away, and it will be credited automatically.”

Online shopping isn’t as cheap as discount supermarkets. But for stressed city-dwellers, it can be quite a relief.

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 Questions

11. In the beginning of the video, a man visited his girlfriend. True or false?

12. Is the grocery delivery service free? Does Karin like the service because it’s cheaper than brick-and-mortar grocery stores? Why does she like it?

13. Does Food.de sell only vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, cheese, butter, salt and spices? Does it only operate in Berlin?

14. Are their main customers teenagers and university students? Who are their main customers?

15. This happens only in Germany. Is this right or wrong? Is food delivery exactly the same in Indonesia? Why does the woman in Indonesia like online grocery shopping?

16. Do people only select and choose items individually, one by one?

17. Big data or artificial intelligence is involved in advertising and sales. Is this correct or incorrect?

18. What happens if a customer doesn’t like a loaf of jar of beans or peas? Do they have to eat everything?

19. Which is cheaper, discount supermarkets or online grocery shopping?
 
 
G. Is there online grocery shopping in your city? Is it very common and popular?

H. What kind of people shop for groceries online? Who prefers shopping offline?

I. Do you or would you prefer to shop for groceries offline (at traditional stores) or online?

J. What will happen in the future?

K. Is online grocery shopping good, bad, both, neither or it depends? Are there any drawbacks or disadvantages to online shopping?

L. Do you or your friends have any ideas for an online business or service?