Tesco Lotus Launches Online Grocery

[aussiebebe]

Is this a late April Fool story?

The online shopping website is hidden so well that it takes real determination to even find it, then the english language only partially works, the images are tiny and dont zoom or expand, the whole website has a real amateur feel to it.

I make a living from building catalog websites, if I was the person who built this i'd give up and start looking for another job.

I have yet to see any Thai website that both works, has no errors, and is up to date.

Yes, I had a look at the UK Tesco site - isn't it funny that the Thai one is so much worse? I wonder how or why a company like Tesco didn't make sure it was at least as good; I agree the descriptions should be in English, but when you click on products they do show a larger image with English. I don't how web design works but couldn't Tesco have hired the same team to do their Thai site?

[lopburi3]

I have had no issues with the web site and consider it one of the best sites I have seen in Thailand - the language is Thai but most items do have a current photo so not hard to navigate and click on enlarges image and provides more information with some in English. Much better than the new Bangkok Bank site where the font will not enlarge with browser control so too small to read.

As for delivery have used and it is a refrigerated truck designed for such delivery service. As for freshness have not had any issue and you accept or reject at time of delivery in any case - you are not charged until delivery has been confirmed.

I likely will normally shop in store but find it rather pleasant to find what I want on computer and not have to run cart around the phone time in the middle of the aisle shoppers and stand in check-out lines and for some elderly it will be ideal.

[dcutman]

I used this service three times last month and time of delivery was well within the 2 hour window specified. Very good website and at 60 baht less cost than a taxi.

But how many Thai's shop online and would even consider this service? Just trying to find anything in this country online is impossible, no less trying to buy anything online.

[MESmith]

I used this service three times last month and time of delivery was well within the 2 hour window specified. Very good website and at 60 baht less cost than a taxi.

But how many Thai's shop online and would even consider this service? Just trying to find anything in this country online is impossible, no less trying to buy anything online.

I think shopping on line has finally arrived in Thailand. Ordered a new phone on Lazada yesterday afternoon. It arrived by courier this afternoon out in the sticks near Chiang Mai. Great service, & only had to pay cash on delivery. A couple of years ago, shopping on line was a pain in the a$$. Had to make a cash payment in a bank & email scan of deposit. slip. 7-11 also have a shop on line for consumer goods. Hopefully Amazon will open her soon

But personally, I wouldn't shop for food on line.

[Almera]

Might give it a go.

As long as giving them 1020b for a 520b bill makes them scratch their heads, then remove their socks as they begin adding and subtracting, in order to make the process genuine.

[dcutman]

I used this service three times last month and time of delivery was well within the 2 hour window specified. Very good website and at 60 baht less cost than a taxi.

But how many Thai's shop online and would even consider this service? Just trying to find anything in this country online is impossible, no less trying to buy anything online.

I think . Ordered a new phone on Lazada yesterday afternoon. It arrived by courier this afternoon out in the sticks near Chiang Mai. Great service, & only had to pay cash on delivery. A couple of years ago, shopping on line was a pain in the a$$. Had to make a cash payment in a bank & email scan of deposit. slip. 7-11 also have a shop on line for consumer goods. Hopefully Amazon will open her soon

But personally, I wouldn't shop for food on line.

You must be joking right? Either you have been here to long, or you have been here waaaaaay to long. The main way to advertise anything here in Thailand is through a loud speaker, mounted to a pickup truck (Ute). This is the example I use when I see statements like, "shopping on line has finally arrived in Thailand"

[bkk_mike]

Shopping online will only have arrived in Thailand when there is a www.amazon.co.th website, with a similar number of products as in other countries.

It's a long way away.

[ZhouZhou]

I used this service three times last month and time of delivery was well within the 2 hour window specified. Very good website and at 60 baht less cost than a taxi.

But how many Thai's shop online and would even consider this service? Just trying to find anything in this country online is impossible, no less trying to buy anything online.

I think . Ordered a new phone on Lazada yesterday afternoon. It arrived by courier this afternoon out in the sticks near Chiang Mai. Great service, & only had to pay cash on delivery. A couple of years ago, shopping on line was a pain in the a$$. Had to make a cash payment in a bank & email scan of deposit. slip. 7-11 also have a shop on line for consumer goods. Hopefully Amazon will open her soon

But personally, I wouldn't shop for food on line.

You must be joking right? Either you have been here to long, or you have been here waaaaaay to long. The main way to advertise anything here in Thailand is through a loud speaker, mounted to a pickup truck (Ute). This is the example I use when I see statements like, "shopping on line has finally arrived in Thailand"

there is a lot you can buy online in thailand. sold by thai companies.

[unanimosity]

30 delivery vans in Bangkok traffic. You could be waiting a loooooooong time for your groceries!

You can be sure that they are not refers and there will be plenty of sour dairy products and thawed frozen foods on daytime deliveries. What is going to happen if you take delivery and the driver leaves and you find some item(s) missing? There is nobody to corroborate it because the driver certainly isn't going to wait around. Only good thing is that Tesco has a no questions asked return policy. Not sure if that policy extends to items not delivered because there is nothing to return or exchange.

The biggest worry is if the picker sees a non-Thai name you are in for the worst and oldest perishable items from the produce and meat departments, dented cans (which can be prone to botulism), etc.

[unanimosity]

I have had no issues with the web site and consider it one of the best sites I have seen in Thailand - the language is Thai but most items do have a current photo so not hard to navigate and click on enlarges image and provides more information with some in English. Much better than the new Bangkok Bank site where the font will not enlarge with browser control so too small to read.

As for delivery have used and it is a refrigerated truck designed for such delivery service. As for freshness have not had any issue and you accept or reject at time of delivery in any case - you are not charged until delivery has been confirmed.

I likely will normally shop in store but find it rather pleasant to find what I want on computer and not have to run cart around the phone time in the middle of the aisle shoppers and stand in check-out lines and for some elderly it will be ideal.

So you are shopping in Thai language? Are the expiration dates shown? Do you order weighed items by volume or price? Are the prices shown? Can you compare unit costs online in Thai language? Can you read the labels in Thai to make sure no allergic ingredients such as MSG exist? Do the drivers speak English or are you faced with alaina?

[jbrain]

there is a lot you can buy online in thailand. sold by thai companies.

Sure there is. Only inconvenience is that after you have placed your order and paid for it, you will have to call them to get he answer that the item you ordered is actually not in stock.

[ALFREDO]

Directly copying a press release and using it as a 'news item' generally is 'advertising'.

Who cares, TESCO LOTUS owns the Market soon!

Big C, Makro in Big Cities.

But everywhere else only LOTUS, BIG and SMALL!

7/11 has not the diversity of products, special fresh ones and is anyway more expensive!

I fear a monopoly!

A small Amphoe City in Udon Thani, which until recently had not even a 7/11 has now a small Lotus 24 hours open, to keep the 7/11 out for good!

[MESmith]

there is a lot you can buy online in thailand. sold by thai companies.

Sure there is. Only inconvenience is that after you have placed your order and paid for it, you will have to call them to get he answer that the item you ordered is actually not in stock.

Paid cash on delivery for my order. Times are changing.

[jackr]

Good idea, just too bad the Tesco's here doesn't stock the quality and range of produce of the UK original.

[ignis]

Tesco, well no different then any other Superstore here, staff gather and chat always in the way.......... ask any staff about where is so and so they point somewhere or anywhere outside there area..

So should be a plus as staff will have to run around with shopping carts, staff will know where everything is in the store, just maybe they will even complain to management when over night goods are moved to another section in the store. [my pet hate with superstores]

So this online shopping should be better for shopper going to the stores as well

[lopburi3]

Again will point out they indeed do use refers for all food delivery. So conditions should be better than doing yourself.

You do not pay in cash - credit/debit card only.

You do not pay/charged until delivered and accepted. If item is not available they will try to bring an alternate you may accept or reject.

The web site is not hard to use although item basic description will be in Thai the categories are in English and good photos are available for almost all items. When item selected often English name is also available.

A very useful feature is a previously ordered tab to quickly locate what you have ordered before for a new order.

They also have a discount tab listing everything on sale and each item will have the expiration date of sale price listed.

I also have my doubts that it will fly - but kind of hope that it does as find it very easy to use and a good experience so far.

[BKKBrit]

Tried using this yesterday. Registered; did a shop for Bht1300 and then the website fails when clicking the ordering time slot. Called their 'helpline' and the guy said he'd call me back. 1 hour and 20 minutes went by, no call. Called him and said IT is having problems. Tried again this morning, and it now doesn't even recognise my registration, my shopping cart has disappeared and to boot, their helpline disconnects when trying to get hold of a human being.

They spent Bht300m on what?? Another mickey mouse attempt by Tesco. If you want to retain your sanity, avoid trying this for 6 months until they fix the bugs.

[whybother]

Is this a late April Fool story?

The online shopping website is hidden so well that it takes real determination to even find it, then the english language only partially works, the images are tiny and dont zoom or expand, the whole website has a real amateur feel to it.

I make a living from building catalog websites, if I was the person who built this i'd give up and start looking for another job.

I have yet to see any Thai website that both works, has no errors, and is up to date.

I'm just wondering whether you're looking at the same website as I am.

If you can't see "Shop Online" then you're not looking.

Also, if that picture isn't big enough for you and you can't read the English description, then there is more of a problem than not looking.

[lopburi3]

Indeed it appears the site is down - likely due to the publicity yesterday - know when first active it was very slow but they had improved that greatly but probably not enough as only a few of us using it.

Network Error (tcp_error)

A communication error occurred: "Operation timed out"

The Web Server may be down, too busy, or experiencing other problems preventing it from responding to requests. You may wish to try again at a later time.

For assistance, contact your network support team.

[Fullstop]

I wouldn't shop for food on line.

Not even a pizza?

[dighambara]

Look forward to the service being available in Samui.

It's not a pleasure to shop at the stores,

when no one wants or tries to help you anyway;

if you have a question,

and in Nathon the aisles are always cluttered with stock,

that they expect the customers to maneuver around.

So online shopping would be a dream to use...

Thailand has yet to discover that when the store has very few customers - say 1AM - that it is much easier to load stock and buff floors. The Malls do the same - no one on duty at night to stock or clean...

However, now we have the hope that Tesco will restock popular items. It seems many staff do not reorder popular, money making items, because it makes their day 'too busy'...

[MickGC]

The few people on here who have actually used the service appear to be more than happy with the result.

Most others are just being negative as usual.

If living in BKK why not give it a try then get back on here and let us know how it went.

Not available in my neck of the woods but would definitely use it if it was.

[DRONGOH]

How can more than all the people own/use mobile phones? Even if
everyone owns 2 mobile phones, it's still no more than 100% of the
population who own/use them.

They are also using "farang stolen phones" at the same time.

[whybother]

How can more than all the people own/use mobile phones? Even if

everyone owns 2 mobile phones, it's still no more than 100% of the

population who own/use them.

They are also using "farang stolen phones" at the same time.

Wiki: "Mobile phone penetration rate is a term generally used to describe the number of active mobile phone numbers (usually as a percentage) within a specific population."

So the "penetration rate" can be more than 100% if there are more phones than people.

[007]

Smart move. You can bypass their rude employees.

The only thing I would be concerned about is they would unload their older merchandise on you.

Its managed by Falang who want to be the leaders.

Can't see the mum and pop stores being happy about this!

I don't think it's managed by 'falang', cause I once had a serious complaint about one of their stores here in Thailand. After searching without success for a customer complaint email, I wrote to (what I thought) the head office in the UK. They answered that they were

'sorry', but unable to help, as they had no influence on the stores in Thailand.

Quote Wikipedia: "Tesco Lotus is a hypermarket chain in Thailand, Cambodia and China (卜蜂莲花 Bo fēng liánhuā). In Thailand, the stores are operated by Ek-Chai Distribution System Co., Ltd."

Anyhow, I miss my local Carrefour store...

[Markaew]

Smart move. You can bypass their rude employees.

The only thing I would be concerned about is they would unload their older merchandise on you.

Its managed by Falang who want to be the leaders.

Can't see the mum and pop stores being happy about this!

I don't think it's managed by 'falang', cause I once had a serious complaint about one of their stores here in Thailand. After searching without success for a customer complaint email, I wrote to (what I thought) the head office in the UK. They answered that they were

'sorry', but unable to help, as they had no influence on the stores in Thailand.

Quote Wikipedia: "Tesco Lotus is a hypermarket chain in Thailand, Cambodia and China (卜蜂莲花 Bo fēng liánhuā). In Thailand, the stores are operated by Ek-Chai Distribution System Co., Ltd."

Anyhow, I miss my local Carrefour store...

I thought they were a French company. (I agree about Carrefour)

[whybother]

I thought they were a French company. (I agree about Carrefour)

You might be thinking of Big C.

[technologybytes]

Is this a late April Fool story?

The online shopping website is hidden so well that it takes real determination to even find it, then the english language only partially works, the images are tiny and dont zoom or expand, the whole website has a real amateur feel to it.

I make a living from building catalog websites, if I was the person who built this i'd give up and start looking for another job.

I have yet to see any Thai website that both works, has no errors, and is up to date.

I'm just wondering whether you're looking at the same website as I am.

Tesco.jpg

If you can't see "Shop Online" then you're not looking.

Tesco2.jpg

Also, if that picture isn't big enough for you and you can't read the English description, then there is more of a problem than not looking.

I'm not the only one that had difficulty finding the site. The "shop online" logo that you so kindly include is NOT on the home page.

Also, I would find it useful if I could zoom the image and read the text on the packaging, including looking at the back of the pack. This is not much to ask, after all, even the worst camera in the world would create an image 6x bigger than the ones shown on the website. It can't be about bandwidth either with a simple "click to zoom" link.

NO, I stand by my view that this website is AWFUL. I cannot accept for one second that they invested anything like 300m baht in this, you could get the same thing for well under 3m baht properly built and very professional so even with the usual increase in price to allow for corruption of about 400% it's sill pathetic.

[whybother]

I'm not the only one that had difficulty finding the site. The "shop online" logo that you so kindly include is NOT on the home page.

Also, I would find it useful if I could zoom the image and read the text on the packaging, including looking at the back of the pack. This is not much to ask, after all, even the worst camera in the world would create an image 6x bigger than the ones shown on the website. It can't be about bandwidth either with a simple "click to zoom" link.

NO, I stand by my view that this website is AWFUL. I cannot accept for one second that they invested anything like 300m baht in this, you could get the same thing for well under 3m baht properly built and very professional so even with the usual increase in price to allow for corruption of about 400% it's sill pathetic.

The shop online logo IS on the home page. http://www.tescolotus.com/home.php?lang=en

Can you point me to any online grocery site that shows text on the packaging ... especially on the back?

[MESmith]

I used this service three times last month and time of delivery was well within the 2 hour window specified. Very good website and at 60 baht less cost than a taxi.

But how many Thai's shop online and would even consider this service? Just trying to find anything in this country online is impossible, no less trying to buy anything online.

I think . Ordered a new phone on Lazada yesterday afternoon. It arrived by courier this afternoon out in the sticks near Chiang Mai. Great service, & only had to pay cash on delivery. A couple of years ago, shopping on line was a pain in the a$$. Had to make a cash payment in a bank & email scan of deposit. slip. 7-11 also have a shop on line for consumer goods. Hopefully Amazon will open her soon

But personally, I wouldn't shop for food on line.

You must be joking right? Either you have been here to long, or you have been here waaaaaay to long. The main way to advertise anything here in Thailand is through a loud speaker, mounted to a pickup truck (Ute). This is the example I use when I see statements like, "shopping on line has finally arrived in Thailand"

You really need to get updated. Even Homepro has an online site. As I said, times are changing. Don't get left behind