Sunday, February 26, 2012

Online Grocery Shopping in China


I like to buy some heavy and hard to find items online. It also saves me the time of playing scavenger hunt at  3-5 stores looking for something as "common" as dried kidney beans.  A post on why I hate shopping in China will soon follow. 


My favorite website is Amazon.cn. This site has become my best friend! I buy something from this website at least once a week, every week. For us Canadians, buying groceries or anything books and electronics unrelated might sound completely foreign! But for Americans and the Chinese, this is nothing new.
My second best friend is Google Translate. I use this site for everything!
Then my third best friend is Google Chrome. The automatic webpage translation makes shopping a breeze.

Below is how I shop online using my 'Three Musketeers".

1) Open www.amazon.cn  Usually, Google Chrome will automatically translate the webpage to English, But i've been having some "network issues" lately, which gives me limited shopping abilities. Luckily, I can use my computer at work or just go with the flow since I now know where to click and what i'm buying.



2) Then, I open Google Translate, search for the Chinese translation of what I want to buy.


3) Go back to Amazon and search for it.


4) Put in my purchase, select payment method (COD, Cash on Delivery) and delivery time (evening, after 5pm), wait for 24hours or less for my order to arrive and i'm done!

5) The next evening, I receive my package, check to make sure the package is complete, pay for the order and get cooking!

Shipping for Items over 29rmb is free, so I have never had to pay for shipping since I always buy multiple items.
I also bought a new battery for my camera.

Anyone living in a foreign land can try this idea and let me know how it goes.

Happy Sunday and Happy Shopping!

4 comments:

Alicia said...

How fantastic. I have a serious dislike for shopping (food, clothing,etc...except for books). I always thought of trying a grocery service. I had heard before that some Manhattanites do this. Here in Florida, I think mostly the wealthy do this. When I make it to China, I will have to try this. How do you like teaching English over there by the way?

~Adeola~ said...

Seniors use the grocery services as well in Canada, and I guess busy individuals. My friend once told me her neighbor buys prepared (rinsed and chopped) veggies online, I just think it's weird. I just do mine for economical and convenience purposes.
Teaching English in China is pretty cool! Who knew there are different types of English to teach and learn?

online shopping said...

Online shopping is great, you can sit with a cup of tea and do all the shopping you want.you have done a great work .......... its really working and important for us. so please keep sharing ....

~Adeola~ said...

yes, and in a country like China where it can be a bit difficult to find the easiest thing, Online shopping is a real life saver to everyone, including the locals themselves!