Pocket Shop is the UK’s first one-hour supermarket delivery service. Recently launched across London, it’s essentially like having online access to a Sainsbury’s Local that magically delivers on fairly short notice.
Deliveries are sans alcoholic beverages at the moment, but I’ve been told that’s going to change soon (and that the service eventually will hit Tesco, M&S and Boots too). Maybe Pocket Shop isn’t all that sexy of a concept, but it’s definitely worth keeping in mind if you’re really busy and strapped for time … or feeling super lazy and just can’t be bothered.
Me? Right now? Really busy and strapped for time. And Pocketshop very much came in handy on this Friday night when I’m pathetically stuck at home alone and up to my eyeballs with work. I got a whole mess of work to slog through on the horizon this weekend.
So, hooray for Pocket Shop. I gave the site a first time browse this evening and order some things. It took about a minute to set up an account, and choosing my groceries was a straightforward process and no different than other online supermarket shopping experiences.
I liked how I was able to settle into my work and leave my shopping to the Pocket Shoppers. The price for such luxury? Ordinary supermarket prices plus a rather nominal delivery charge: within one hour is £6.50 two hours is £5.50; and three hours s £5.10. I went with the two-hour delivery window. The one-hour option actually wasn’t available “due to high demand” – fair enough I suppose for a Friday evening. Still, I received my stuff in about an hour and a half.
What’d I get? A bag of ‘ready to assemble’ Caesar salad for my dinner along with some bottled water and a few more items to tide me over for the next couple of days. I got a pint of ice cream for the weekend too (my reward for staying in and working). Including delivery charge, I spend around £20 and reckon is was every bit worth it and roughly inline with what I would have probably spent anyway.
My deliverer was friendly and polite. She said she used public transport to reach my flat (I’m in Hackney, E5). She had to substitute a few items (San Pelligrino instead of Perrier, for example) and did a decent enough job with her selections (I could have got my money back if I didn’t like what she had picked).
I can see myself using Pocketshop again, and I can imagine it becoming a huge success as well, especially if they start delivering booze within one, two and three hour timeslots.
Find out more at pocketshop.com.
