[KJKingJ]

Mine are always one off orders. I'll log on, choose an hourly timeslot for delivery and then browse down a list of products i've purchased before (both online and instore) and chose which ones I want to be delivered. It takes about 10-15 minutes to do and they will deliver everything right to my door. It ends up being a huge timesaver compared to having to go to and from the supermarket and pick everything out.

I tend to place an order about once every 2-3 weeks, and supplement it with "top up" shops for fresh items (meat, veg etc) in a mini-supermarket on my way home from work every so often.

[wiremine]

> then browse down a list of products i've purchased before (both online and instore) and chose which ones I want to be delivered

That's cool. So they keep a history of everything you've purchased? Do they do that by credit card or do you log in some how when you purchase instore?

[pjc50]

Loyalty card, presumably.

[jon-wood]

All the stores have loyalty cards which link on and off line shopping.

[zo1]

You create an account on the site. Why complicate it?

[mfenniak]

I feel like a "mini-supermarket" is just a market; the super and mini should cancel each other out. :-)

[TorKlingberg]

I think "supermarket" originally meant any store where you pick the goods yourself, rather than asking at the counter.

[KJKingJ]

Heh yeah, it's a bit of a contradictory term, but it's the only 'generic' way to describe it that I know of. Most of them are branded with the store's name with a suffix like 'local', 'express' or 'metro'

[ghaff]

The US doesn't really have that class of store for some reason. Even in urban areas, there tend to be either full-fledged grocery stores or "convenience stores" like 7-11 which have minimal fresh food. There are certainly exceptions but they tend to be local one-off markets. AFAIK, there aren't any widespread versions of the express/metro markets like you see in the UK.

[gtk40]

There are sort of tiers in the U.S. I would think of something like this for things we have in the Southeast US:

* Convenience Store

* Dollar store (a little more food options at places like Dollar General/Tree/Family Dollar, usually with a small refrigerator section and eggs and milk and juice)

* "Mini" grocery stores, like Piggly Wiggly Express or Dollar General Market

* Stores with mostly food and limited selection like Aldi

* Supermarkets like Kroger and Publix

* Supercenters like Super Walmart and Super Target with full supermarket selection and lots of other stuff

[bryanlarsen]

My stores would get a lot more of my business if they had better interfaces. I can pop over to the grocers, buy $200-$300 worth of grocers and be home in about half an hour. Using their website takes just about as long and then I have to wait a few hours for delivery.