I am not receiving any sponsorship for this article. I simply want to share my experience of online shopping to get my favorite products.
The first time I shopped online, I did so on Amazon to buy ingredients that weren’t available in my local grocery stores. About two years before the pandemic, when IGA started offering online grocery shopping, I ordered my first grocery order online. At that time, only IGA offered the service at all of its supermarkets, while Metro only offered it at three locations.
Since many food retailers have given us the option of picking up or having our online orders delivered, I’ve become a big fan of this service. I still shop in person, but I’m shopping online more and more often. I’d like to share my shopping experience, my favorite websites, and the advantages with you
Advantages
Choose items in the comfort of your home, anywhere, without stress.
The option to choose the supermarket along your route. It’s convenient to pick up your order on the way to your cottage for vacations and weekends.
Add items to your cart anytime (when available).
Take advantage of weekly discounts (which can offset your pickup or delivery fees).
No need to wait in line at the checkout.
Good to know
Some items may not be available at all supermarkets within the same banner.
If you do not wish to receive substitute products (e.g., your favorite tomato soup is Campbell’s and you do not want it replaced with another brand), you can specify this in the comments box, which can be saved for future orders.
Carefully review your grocery cart before proceeding to checkout to ensure the quantities match your shopping list. You may be charged for bags since the order is already packaged at the time of pickup or delivery.
My online Groceries
PC Express
This app is very efficient, and I use it frequently for my shopping.
You can add or remove items from your cart at any time without having to choose a pickup or delivery date.
Once you’ve selected a date and time slot, you can add or remove items from your cart up to 24 hours before pickup or delivery. To get a pickup time that works for me, I often place my order 3 to 4 days in advance.
If a food item is of poor quality, you simply request a refund within 7 days of pickup or delivery. I take a photo of the product with the app and send it along with a note. The refund process has been very quick when I’ve needed to file a claim two or three times in two years.
The app also includes an interactive flyer where you sometimes need to use the search function if the clicked item isn’t what you’re looking for. For example, green grapes might appear when you click on the flyer, but I prefer red grapes.
Delivery costs $10 and pickup costs $1.
Maturin
Maturin offers products from Quebec producers and farmers. Since free delivery is offered with a substantial purchase, I only order about three times a year. Many of the products are frozen and have a long shelf life.
Free delivery is offered for orders over $99 in the Greater Montreal area and $206 elsewhere in Quebec, excluding remote regions.
It is possible to pick up an order free of charge on a fixed date at designated drop-off points.
If you don’t order frequently, a handling fee (insulated box, ice) of approximately $3 will be added to your order. For environmental reasons, we return the packaging with the delivery driver on the next delivery.
Camelia Sinensis
For several years now, I’ve been ordering my favorite teas and herbal teas from the Camellia Sinensis website. Delivery is free across Canada with a $65 purchase. Since the teas and herbal teas keep for 1 to 1.5 years in metal tins, stored away from light, I order once a year and thus take advantage of the free shipping.
Fromagerie l’Ancêtre
This cheese factory produces only organic cheeses and butters. They offer several types of cheese, and one of my favorites is their 28% fat Mozzarella, which I find more flavorful than many other brands on the market.
Delivery is free with a $100 order. Since most of their products are vacuum-sealed and have a long shelf life, I order about three times a year.
Épices du Cru
This shop offers a variety of quality herbs and spices from around the world. The only downside is that some spices, including cinnamon and ginger, are only available whole. Personally, I’ve never been able to grind spices properly with my coffee grinder as recommended, which is why I buy them elsewhere.
The Spice Trader
This Toronto shop offers spices, herbs, olive oil, vinegars, and more. I buy whole and ground herbs and spices there, among other things. I also love their sweet paprika, which tastes very close to authentic Hungarian paprika, which is becoming increasingly difficult to find (if you know where to get it, please let me know).
Free shipping is available across Canada on orders over $100.
Voilà by IGA
I sometimes place orders with the Voilà service to get products that aren’t available at other stores.
Several weekly discounts from the IGA flyer aren’t available on Voilà.
The product selection is smaller than in IGA grocery stores.
It’s possible to add items to your order up to 24 hours before delivery; the process is more cumbersome than with other stores because you have to go through the checkout process each time you return to the site to add items to your cart.
Delivery is free for people aged 70 and over. To take advantage of this, you must call after subscribing to the service so that this benefit is permanently recorded on your file.
Some supermarkets offer the option of ordering online at IGA.net. You should check the information on the supermarket’s page and sometimes call because the information isn’t always up to date.
