24 ms·

I buy most things online, yet I don't understand how you can buy "fresh" anything online: don't you need to see it, test it, smell it? I would never buy a melo

by bambax 9y ago

I buy most things online, yet I don't understand how you can buy "fresh" anything online: don't you need to see it, test it, smell it? I would never buy a melon that I can't smell first, or a fish without seeing its eyes, or shrimps that I can't see how blue the head is, or cheese that I can't press, etc. How is this going to work? If you don't care about these things, isn't it easier to buy canned goods or go to the restaurant? What are the customers who want fresh but don't need to see / touch first?

daemin 9y ago
One of the reasons I can't seem to buy groceries online no matter how lazy I feel like being.
michaelt 9y ago
I don't know about the things you cook, but when I inspect things in the grocery store I'm generally checking for (a) bruises/damage and (b) being past its best. Online grocery retailers have their employees (and stock management practices) doing those checks for you. A short-sighted company might think it was profitable to send bottom-of-the-barrel leftovers to online customers - but in the long term there's much more money to be made by sending a family $100 of good quality groceries every week forever than sending them $100 of poor quality groceries once. So retailers have every incentive to get the checks right. With that said, if you're an expert cook, it's possible you're sensitive to nuances the average person would overlook. In that case online shopping might not meet all your needs.
- bambax 9y ago
  Yes it's true it would be counter-productive to sell bad products. However, when you shop in person you can choose, and so the best eye gets the best products (or at least, so she thinks!) And it's not only about quality: sometimes the same customer wants different things. Regarding ripening for example, sometimes I want very ripe fruits to use now, and sometimes I want greener ones because I intend to use them in a few days. Same for cheese, what you want depends on when you intend to use it. I don't want a Camembert hard as stone to eat tonight. I want one that's "almost bad". How do I tell all this to Amazon Fresh?
  - michaelt 9y ago
    In some cases, there are multiple products. For example, with things like bananas and avocados retailers will offer a choice of 'ripen at home' and 'ready to eat' Some retailers also let you provide instructions as free text. Obviously this is more flexible, but prevents a computer from checking the worker's work.
coldtea 9y ago
>I buy most things online, yet I don't understand how you can buy "fresh" anything online: don't you need to see it, test it, smell it? No, you just need to trust the seller. >How is this going to work? If you don't care about these things, isn't it easier to buy canned goods or go to the restaurant? Just because somebody doesn't care to smell and tickle their melons (no pun intended) it doesn't mean that they have to go straight to canned food. Most people don't check their fresh produce that much anyway, they just get some items off the shelve and that's that.

by bambax 9y ago

daemin 9y ago

One of the reasons I can't seem to buy groceries online no matter how lazy I feel like being.

michaelt 9y ago

I don't know about the things you cook, but when I inspect things in the grocery store I'm generally checking for (a) bruises/damage and (b) being past its best. Online grocery retailers have their employees (and stock management practices) doing those checks for you. A short-sighted company might think it was profitable to send bottom-of-the-barrel leftovers to online customers - but in the long term there's much more money to be made by sending a family $100 of good quality groceries every week forever than sending them $100 of poor quality groceries once. So retailers have every incentive to get the checks right. With that said, if you're an expert cook, it's possible you're sensitive to nuances the average person would overlook. In that case online shopping might not meet all your needs.

bambax 9y ago
Yes it's true it would be counter-productive to sell bad products. However, when you shop in person you can choose, and so the best eye gets the best products (or at least, so she thinks!) And it's not only about quality: sometimes the same customer wants different things. Regarding ripening for example, sometimes I want very ripe fruits to use now, and sometimes I want greener ones because I intend to use them in a few days. Same for cheese, what you want depends on when you intend to use it. I don't want a Camembert hard as stone to eat tonight. I want one that's "almost bad". How do I tell all this to Amazon Fresh?
- michaelt 9y ago
  In some cases, there are multiple products. For example, with things like bananas and avocados retailers will offer a choice of 'ripen at home' and 'ready to eat' Some retailers also let you provide instructions as free text. Obviously this is more flexible, but prevents a computer from checking the worker's work.

coldtea 9y ago

>I buy most things online, yet I don't understand how you can buy "fresh" anything online: don't you need to see it, test it, smell it? No, you just need to trust the seller. >How is this going to work? If you don't care about these things, isn't it easier to buy canned goods or go to the restaurant? Just because somebody doesn't care to smell and tickle their melons (no pun intended) it doesn't mean that they have to go straight to canned food. Most people don't check their fresh produce that much anyway, they just get some items off the shelve and that's that.