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Making do with mushrooms when you ordered tampons or laundering clothes with Pils rather than Persil may seem ridiculous but are just some of the strange online shopping substitutions to emerge from a customer survey.
Grocery shopping online has always been something of a game of Russian roulette but some random replacements defy all logic.
Consumer watchdog Which? has discovered the true extent of the issue in a customer questionnaire.
Ele Clark, Which? retail editor, said: “If the item you’ve ordered is out of stock, well-chosen substitutions can be really handy – but our research has shown that all too often the replacement item is inappropriate or downright bizarre.”
Among the more unexpected swaps which customers received were a fruit-scented shower gel rather than items of fruit and cream cracker biscuits instead of Christmas crackers.
Which? questioned more than 3,000 shoppers in October and November 2023 for the consumer champion’s annual supermarkets survey, quizzing people on their experiences with the supermarkets they used most often in the previous 12 months including what substitutions they had received and ratings for the overall quality of choices.
In total, just over a third (34 per cent) reported receiving a substitution in their most recent grocery order from at least one of the online stores they were asked about.
Asda had the highest proportion of shoppers receiving a substitution in their most recent shop at more than half (56 per cent).
Customers rated the supermarket just two stars overall for its choice of substitute items, which included shower gel for fruit and beer for washing powder switches.
Sainsbury’s was second with 41 per cent of customers receiving a substitution in their most recent shop.
It also got just two stars for its choice of substitute items, with one bewildered shopper offered allergy tablets instead of an anti-allergy duvet and another receiving flour rather than a loaf of bread.
Three leading supermarkets hovered around the third marker for shopping swaps.
A third of Morrisons’ shoppers (33 per cent) said they had received a substitute in their most recent online order, one reported getting onions instead of cheese and onion crisps.
Almost a third of Tesco shoppers (32 per cent) also said they had received a substitute in their latest shop but online customers gave the supermarket three stars for its choice of replacement. Although, Tesco was responsible for the Christmas cracker mix-up and a substitute salad in place of a ready meal.
Three in 10 Aldi shoppers (31 per cent) were given a swapped item in their most recent grocery order. The discounter received two stars for its choice of substitutions. One surprised shopper was offered fruit sweets instead of fruit salad.
Waitrose fared slightly better with a quarter of shoppers (25 per cent) saying they received a substitution in their most recent online shop. The supermarket received three stars for its choice of substitutions although one shopper said they were given meat sausages instead of vegetarian ones.
Less than a quarter of Iceland shoppers (23 per cent) received a substitute item in their most recent order and the retailer was given three stars for its choice of substitutes. But Iceland was home to the tinned peaches for frozen pizza swap.
Ocado topped the charts for lowest level of online grocery substitutions – only 17 per cent of Ocado shoppers told Which? they had received a replacement item in their most recent order,
However, success was somewhat tainted by the grocery firm being responsible for one of the strangest substitutions any shopper had received in the past year – mushrooms instead of tampons.
The implications of some substitutions can be more than just annoying for some customers.
Which? said several shoppers with dietary requirements had received items which were not suitable.
One Tesco shopper’s lactose-free cheese was replaced with regular cheese, while Sainsbury’s replaced one customer’s two vegetarian ready meals with two containing meat.
Ms Clark added: “Shoppers have the right to reject substitutions at the point of delivery, or you can sometimes opt out of receiving substitutions altogether.
“If you end up with an unwanted substitution after the driver has gone, contact the supermarket and ask for a refund – some have handy online tools to make the process easier.”
