iceland.co.uk > Reviews (93)

It’s not been a good week. My car is on the fritz and I couldn’t get to the supermarket. The cupboards were bare – nothing left, not even the tins of goose liver pate and game soup that came in the Christmas hamper and no one fancied. Zilch. Nada. Nowt. Old Mother Hubbard syndrome.

Time for drastic action. And what do I do in times of trouble? I hit the net. My mission – to find an online supermarket that delivers and takes my silly Solo card. Mission Impossible? I thought so, until finally, I came across Iceland.co.uk. Both Tesco and Sainsbury, while taking Solo in their stores, don’t accept it via their online ordering services. Tsk at them.

Iceland offers an online shopping service via a pretty nifty website. It offers all the same deals that are available in their normal shops, delivery via refrigerated van (delivery is free if you spend over £40) AND they take all major credit and debit cards, including Solo. Sounds great, doesn’t it? And, on the whole, it is.

The website is a doddle to use. It loads quickly and looks quite nice in the standard Iceland livery of oranges, reds and yellows on a nice simple white background.

On the homepage there are links for buying appliances like fridges and freezers from Iceland online, a kids food section, news about the latest items instore and an explanation of the website’s features, which are supposed to make ordering your shopping quicker and easier. There is also a link to allow you to browse the store by aisle. This is the option I took as it was my first visit.

I had to register before ordering, which was a relatively simple process. I entered my postcode, my local Iceland store was located and I had to enter some account details – user name, password, name and address, e-mail address, etc. All pretty standard stuff.

Then, you are into the shop. You are shown a list of available delivery slots before you make your order, just to make sure they can deliver when it is convenient for you. This is great, as I’d hate to go through the whole ordering procedure only to find they couldn’t deliver when I’m free. Deliveries are available on weekdays in two hour slots.

You are also reminded of the date that offers change. And the site states clearly that you are always charged the price of goods instore on the day your order is delivered, not the day it is ordered – so make sure those two for ones and other offers are still valid on your chosen delivery day.

Before entering the store proper, it’s a good idea to check out the “What’s new” section, which lists new products, and the “Top Offers” section, which details the best of Iceland’s current two for one deals, money off promotions and linksave items.

Once you get into the store proper, special offer items are clearly marked, but the Top Offers section gives you a good starting point and lots of meal ideas. For example, when I ordered my shopping, Iceland deep pan pizzas were on offer, buy one get one free. That’s Friday’s tea sorted then!

As it was my first visit, I then chose the “Browse the Aisles” method of shopping from a drop-down menu of various options.

This is set out like pretty much any supermarket, with bakery, beer wine and spirits, cereals, frozen food, jars and packets, dairy etc. Then it’s just a matter of clicking on the item you want and the amount you want, and the items get put into your shopping basket. Simple. There are pretty good descriptions and product information and plenty of pictures of the products on offer. They also give details of whether items are suitable for vegetarians and details of any special offers or discounts.

Iceland online gives a reasonable selection of all kinds of products, not just the frozen fare we are used to from them. Fresh vegetables and fruit are a recent addition to their repertoire.

One thing to remember is that if there is a multi buy offer, you have to order the total number of items you require. So for my two for one pizzas, I had to order two, but was only charged for one. See? It’s all very simple. The only issue was an annoying pop up which came up every time one of my choices was on offer, explaining how the offers work. You were supposed to be able to turn it off once you got the hang of things, but it didn’t seem to work. A minor inconvenience.

Once I had selected my shopping, I went to the checkout, selected a delivery slot and entered my debit card details and my order was completed. I received an e-mail confirmation, including details of my order, the cost and delivery details.

Once you are used to ordering online, Iceland.co.uk offers a range of other ways to shop, which are designed to make life easier for you.

You can:

 Get an “items I’ve bought before” list and edit it.
 Create a “speed shopper” list, where you type a basic list (eggs, cheese, milk, etc) and the site searches for options for each
 Access the “use past order” option, which allows you order the same items as you’ve ordered in the past (without editing).
 Shop with lists – past speed shopper lists you have used and saved.
 Use the product finder – a product search facility.
 Choose menu and recipe ideas with built-in shopping lists

I haven’t used any of these options, as I’ve only ordered once and I wanted to get a good overview of all the shop has to offer. All the options seem very easy to use, though.

And so, to delivery day. I chose the ten till noon delivery slot, and unfortunately, by 12.15 my order hadn’t arrived. I rang the freephone number shown on my order confirmation and the customer service staff were very apologetic and promised to get on to my local store and find out what was happening. Ten minutes later, they rang back to say that the delivery driver had been taken ill and another driver was enroute. As I was speaking to the customer service centre, the driver arrived.

He was also very apologetic, and carried all the bags into the kitchen for me. I then had to sign a delivery note and was given a till receipt and debit card receipt. All the shopping arrived packed in bags marked with my name on sticky labels.

I’m inclined to give Iceland another go, despite the late delivery, as they were so helpful and apologetic, and you can’t really help it if someone gets ill, can you?

Out of 36 items I chose, three were unavailable (fresh kiwis, apples, and frozen broccoli and cauliflower floret mix – strange thing for a frozen food giant to run out of, really). I hadn’t checked the “send an alternative” box, so these items were not included on my bill.

The own brand items I ordered, especially, seem like very good quality and value. And you really can’t beat Iceland for offers and deals. Boy, are they doing a deal!

My one minor gripe is that because of the delay, a couple of the items (perhaps the ones picked first at the store), had started to defrost. I decided we could have those for tea tonight though, so I didn’t mind too much. So, it’s pizza and salad, and sticky toffee pudding with icecream on the menu tonight….and thanks to Iceland I am no longer Old Mother Hubbard. My cupboards, and my freezer, are full to bursting and I didn’t have to leave the house, brave the crowds, put up with the kids moaning for sweets, catch the bus, struggle with bags, or stand in a queue for the checkout. Bliss. I shall be ordering on line again.

I've given an overall rating of 4 stars and "good" rather than "excellent" because of the late delivery, but I would change that if I have trouble-free deliveries in future.

Allie xx