How to Order Groceries Online on a Tablet in Australia

Doing the grocery shop from your armchair is one of the kindest things a tablet can do for you. No carrying heavy bags, no parking, no joining the queue on a busy Saturday. You build your order on the screen, choose to have it delivered to the door or pick it up on the way past, and the bags appear. For anyone who finds the supermarket a struggle, it gives back a good deal of independence.

The big supermarkets all offer it. Woolworths and Coles both deliver, and some IGA stores do too. Each has its own app and website, and they all work in much the same way. This guide walks through the whole thing on an iPad or tablet, step by step. For the wider view, our guide to the best tablets for seniors in Australia compares the main options.

Step by step: your first online grocery order

1. Choose a supermarket and set up an account

Pick the supermarket you already like, and get its app from the official App Store or Play Store, or use its website in Safari or Chrome. The first time, it will ask you to create an account with your email address and a password, and to enter your home address. This is the same as joining anywhere online, and it remembers your details so you only do it once.

2. Tell it where you are

The app needs to know your address so it can show the right store and what it can deliver to you. Type in your street and suburb. It will then either confirm it delivers to you, or suggest a nearby store for click and collect. This step matters, because prices and what is in stock can differ slightly from store to store.

3. Fill your trolley

Now the fun part. Use the search box at the top and type what you want, “milk”, “wholemeal bread”, “salted butter”, and tap the item to add it to your trolley. You can also browse the aisles down the side, just like walking the shop. To buy more than one, tap the plus sign. Your running total sits in the corner so there are no surprises at the till. A handy tip: once you have shopped once, the app remembers your regulars, and next time you can reorder your usual list in a couple of minutes.

4. Choose delivery or click and collect, and a time

When the trolley is full, choose how to get it. Home delivery brings it to your door in a time window you pick, for a delivery fee. Click and collect means you drive to the store at a chosen time and they bring it out to the car, often cheaper or free. Pick whichever suits, then choose a day and a time slot. Popular slots fill up, so it is worth ordering a day ahead.

5. Say what to do about substitutions

Sometimes a shopper finds an item out of stock. The app asks whether you are happy for them to swap it for something similar, or would rather go without. You can usually set this for the whole order, or item by item. If you are particular about a brand, say no substitutions for that one. You only pay for what they actually pack, and a swapped item never costs you more than the one you chose.

6. Check out and pay

Go to the checkout, look over your order and your chosen time, then enter your card details to pay. This is safe to do on the supermarket’s own app or website. As with any online payment, make sure you are in the real app or on the real address, not a link someone sent you. If paying online is new to you, our guide to banking and paying safely is worth a look.

7. Receive or collect your shopping

For delivery, be home in your time window and the driver brings the bags to the door. For click and collect, drive to the store at your slot, park in the marked collection bays, and someone loads it into the boot. You will get a receipt by email, and a note of anything that was out of stock and refunded. That is the whole shop done, without lifting a heavy bag.

A few tips to make it cheaper and easier

A few small habits help. Add your supermarket loyalty card in the app, Everyday Rewards at Woolworths or Flybuys at Coles, so you still collect the points and specials. Watch the delivery fee and any minimum spend, since a slightly bigger, less frequent order often works out cheaper than several small ones. And save your regular shop as a list, so each week is mostly a matter of checking it over rather than starting from scratch.

Next steps

New to apps? Our guide on downloading an app safely shows how to get the supermarket app, and making an iPad easier to use helps with the basics. All of our tablet advice lives on the tablets and iPads hub.