Shopping online

I buy things online if the company says they use royal mail to deliver, or from Amazon if I can get it delivered to a locker. I find chasing couriers around trying to figure out which entrance they're waiting at more stressful than just going to the shops in person.

I order LPs online; mainly from a Brighton-Based Independent Record Store's website. You get a free postcard with every order; and I used quite a few to send Thank You notices towards those who helped me clear out the family financial gunk.

I had an anxiety issue, tonight, whenever I was behind a woman claiming a win on a scratch-card; and the girl at the till didn't know how to use the Lottery machine. I needed the loo; so had to leave the queue, excuse myself, and return to the queue; further down. (I drink fluids non-stop, and use the loo way too often)

Me to.  The modern shops such as shoe zone have everything on display.  But in decades gone bye we had small independent shops which were cramped, only had one size shoe on display, we had to go up or down into basements navigating narrow stairs.  My mother loved the personal service, the waiting for the other shoe to be found, the assistant physically fitting the shoe onto her feet.  I absolutely hated the experience, I couldn't breathe in these places.

I used a large independent that always had both pairs of shoes available to try on. No need to interact at all except to pay. Unfortunately it closed down, so I now buy from M&S, where both shoes are also available.

Shoe shopping, that brings back many unpleasant memories, all the way back to infancy. My mother had a shoe fetish.

When we were children she used to drag the whole family on Saturdays from one shoe shop to another, she loved the small independent shops where she would get a personal service from the shop assistants, where we had to wait for the assistant to get the other shoe from stock.  I will never forget the awful smell of shoes in these confined spaces.

Many years later when I tried to enter one of these shops, I couldn't, I had a panic attack and collapsed in the street.  Now I only buy shoes in large well ventilated stores.

Food from sainsbury, random stuff from amazon, clothes from asos. I like the ability to easily return the stuff that doesn't work.

Also, sainsbury send you an email in the morning with any substitutes and you can  say if you don't want them.

We do all our food shopping online and it works very well. It is a pity that my sensory difficulties with fabric feel make clothes shopping online impossible, as it is amongst my least favourite shopping experiences. The worst shopping for me is shoe shopping, I hate the amount of interaction that is usually necessary with shop assistants. Unfortunately, my feet are too high-arched and wide to take a chance with any footwear I haven't tried on.

I do a fair amount of online shopping, which works great for me! I find that it's much easier to find what I'm looking for online than in actual stores. Plus, I can take my time browsing without worrying about being rushed or pressured into buying something I don't want. If you're feeling anxious about shopping online, I recommend starting with small purchases from sites that will help you save money, like Shopping.io. Paying in crypto helps in saving around 20%. That way, you can get a feel for how the process works and whether or not it's something that you're comfortable with. Once you've made a few successful online purchases, you'll likely find that it's not nearly as daunting as it may seem.

my local Tesco superstore has “quite hours” I know they have one on Saturday between 9am and 10am. They dim the lights and turn the music off. Maybe check out your local tesco if you ever fancy going out to test it. 

Everything to be honest but mostly food. Going into town for anything is so stressful but especially in a big shop, so many people and so much noise. Sensory overload.

Online sounds much more relaxed in definitely going to give it a try.

Oh God yes.  So, effortless.

Do you mean, food, clothes or something else?

My dad used to restore old cars always had something that looked bit different in the garage. I remember one car he really liked was an old vauxhall but I can't remember what kind it was.

I'm glad it's quiet for you at that time. Last time I went to a supermarket it was so busy. I might call and ask when it's quietest to go in.

I’m another Amazon shopper, my wife has prime so it’s free next day delivery. I restore classic cars for a living, 99% of the parts come from the internet. It’s very time efficient. My wife buys most of her clothes from Next online which is free overnight delivery. I only go to a supermarket once a week, I find that going at about 10pm is ideal as it’s empty of people and the dreadful music normally playing isn’t on as even the staff have had enough by then.

Thanks, you're right and Tesco have changed their system in the past year. It's been longer than a year since I last used them. I've found an email they sent me at the time about the change:

"We’ll gradually phase out paper receipts for all customers and only send an e-receipt.

A big benefit of e-receipts is you can see substitutions before your delivery or collection."

I like normal shops but they're so stressful at times, especially at Christmas time 

Thanks that's a great idea! I'll probably do that, just to start with, order some clothing maybe and see how the experience goes. Do food later when I've got the hang of it.

I did do an online chat with a shop Iceland and the woman said I can call if there's any issues so I thought that was nice.

But yeah for sure I'll opt out as that idea just makes me anxious straight away.

We use tesco for click and collect, we do get a receipt ahead of time to decide on subs.

A couple of times something has been missing even when they said it was there, which has been annoying to correct. The easy option is to accept the refund, but if it is something we need then we have had a struggle to get them to fetch us out the replacement, they have tried to get us to go in and get it ourselves, but how do they think that protects us from covid?! But they did it in the end.

They do usually mention short dated items and it is not usually a problem, especially if the item can be frozen. But they don't always mention them all.

Ah yes substitutions can be anxiety inducing. I don't like it when I am pressured into making a decision on the doorstep at the time of delivery. Tesco are like that, you don't know if there any subs until the driver arrives and hands over the receipt. Sainsbury's and Asda are much better, as they email the receipt (showing subs and missing items) on the morning of the delivery. That gives me chance to think about it and make a decision before the delivery arrives.

As others have said it is easy to opt out of subs if you don't want them. 

Some supermarkets will highlight any short dated items and give you the option to return them to the driver if you don't want them. I check the dates and quality of items after the driver has left. If there are any problems then the supermarkets are generally happy to refund. Tesco is easiest, as a quick email to Customer Services is all it takes. Asda let you complete a refund form when logged in. However Sainsburys can only be contacted by phone, which puts me off complaining about anything.