Saturday morning, several articles to write, very little time for shopping. However, I remember that many supermarkets now allow you to shop online. Moreover. I remember just noticing an ad from Amazon about a new service that delivers groceries in one hour: Amazon Prime Now. I don't have much online shopping experience. But I decide to give it a try: necessity is the mother of genius. So I went to the Amazon website looking for some more details: “Amazon Prime Now – I read on the Amazon website – is the new service reserved for customers registered with Amazon Prime. With Prime Now you can place orders through the dedicated app and receive them in 1 hour at a cost of €6,90 per order or free in 2-hour windows of your choice, from 8am to midnight. The minimum amount for Prime Now orders is 24€”. I therefore realize that it is not a service accessible to everyone but only to Prime subscribers. I clearly am not. Where do I start? Further down the screen I find the writing "Learn more about Amazon Prime" and click on it. My luck is with me: there is a free trial for one month to test the Prime service. Not only. For those who also try the Amazon Prime Now app, there is also a 19 euro discount voucher on a minimum purchase of 20 euro. You convinced me.
The next step is to find out if the service is operating in my area by entering the postal code as indicated. In fact, I have some doubts about this, I live a little outside Milan. Instead, surprise, no problem I can use it too. All I have to do is download the application. In fact, the service in the Now version can only be used via the app. Everything runs smoothly and I find the orange icon on the tablet. I'm looking for groceries now. But on the first go I must have selected something wrong: only a hundred products appear in the list. I realize that I need help and decide to write to customer service, using a handy "contact us" button in the app menu. However, I'm starting to think to myself that I'll probably be forced to fast: it's Saturday, who knows how many requests they'll have, if it's okay with me, the answer will arrive on Monday. But I am blatantly denied.
Within ten minutes, a message from customer service entitled "Your question to Amazon" arrives in my inbox. In the email, signed by a certain Pablo, they confirmed that all the products I saw "are all those present and it does not depend on the zip code, precisely because the catalog is unique for all zip codes covered by our service in the Milan area". In any case, it is also possible to report products that are not yet present through a practical and direct way to do so: the "Suggest an article" button in the main menu. I thank Pablo by email and I get his "Have a nice day" in real time. He was therefore not an automatic responder!
Comforted by the explanations, I decide to try again to use the app. This time, looking under the category "Grocery and home care" (among many others such as beauty, stationery, electronics ...) I get almost six thousand products displayed. Not just the name. But also the photo of the product, with a brief description and the price. Clicking on each single product opens a new window with additional information. I scroll through the images: the fresh cheeses, the pasta, even the organic jams that my mum always buys, the tomato puree but also the tablets for the dishwasher and the large rolls of paper. In short, I find all the products and brands that I usually buy in traditional supermarkets. Definitely filling the cart.
When I go shopping at the supermarket, however, I always check the expiry date of the products, especially if they are fresh cheeses. In this case I can't see it. But I find a reassurance: "We will do everything possible to deliver this item to you at least 8 days before the deadline". It is known that the "days from expiry" vary according to the type of product (cheese, frozen, etc). After the cheese, I come across a product I've never tried, chocolate biscuits. I click on the figure and a new screen opens with a list of characteristics: shortbread biscuits, made in Italy, brand, weight. Highlighted below is an “Important Information” note; "Warnings: We invite you to carefully read the labels and instructions supplied with the product before using or consuming it". Already. But I want to do it now. How much saturated fat is in shortbread biscuits? Then I click on the figure again: the image comes alive and I am shown the back of the package, the labels with the nutritional information and the ingredients. Almost like having the package of biscuits in hand. But if I have any doubts about what to buy? After all, I'm not really a trained housewife and here at the computer you don't come across salespeople to ask for information. No fear. The interactive product sheet is accompanied by reviews from other customers and suggestions on what people who bought that same product have bought.
So I proceed with the shopping. However, after having clicked "add" on about twenty products, I realize that I forgot about the cured meats for the sandwiches. But in the list that I have already partially scrolled through, there are almost 6 thousand products. I just don't have time to go through them all. However, I notice the "filter" button at the top and new time-saving opportunities open up: you can select products by category (water, coffee, meat and fish, cereals and muesli, etc.) or by brand. Moreover. I can filter by “popularity”, price, average customer reviews, latest arrivals. Or I can cross all these parameters. And if I'm still not satisfied, there's the classic lens for internet searches. I write cured meats and I get a precise selection, in this case of the "best 25 results".
My cart is now full. So I decide to pay. I click continue, delivery in one hour is not available for my zip code but, never mind, delivery in two-hour time slots also seems very convenient to me: I choose between 14 and 16 pm (it is also possible to select the " delivery in your absence” if you are not sure if you are at home) and in a special space I will leave the courier instructions on how to get to my house better (where to enter and what to do once you arrive at the house number). Finally, I enter the code MIPROVANOW and pay. Et voila. An email appears in the mailbox in which they confirm that they have taken charge of the order and are preparing the shipment. “We will inform you when your order is being delivered”, they add, listing all the products ordered with the detailed bill in the email. And as promised, delivery doesn't cost me a cent. Now I just have to wait.
At 14.17 I receive a first text message: “Your Amazon Prime Now order will arrive soon. Track shipment!”, with the web link below. At 14.25 they call me: "It's Amazon", says a boy. My shopping has arrived! From a van materialize, placed in plastic containers, five packets of wrapping paper individually sealed with the details of the order and the customer. "This sticker is on the bags with food to put in the fridge", the boy tells me kindly, explaining everything to me. I am evidently surprised by the precision and organization of the delivery. I open the bags and everything inside is perfectly clean, in order and with the correct deadlines.
