App Review: Tesco Shopping App | iPhone | iPad

I have spent many years walking up and down supermarket aisles hunting down bargains, getting the necessities for our weekly life and grabbing the odd bottle of wine, chosen purely by the the fact that it was under a fiver. As soon as I had my first daughter, however, the idea of dragging her round a supermarket filled me with dread and this was when my love for online supermarket shopping began. It meant that in the few hours of peace I had to myself I could, in a stress free manner quickly shopping for the items we needed. Top of the list now though was not wine but nappies and formula.

I began online shopping with Tesco and as with many thousands of others have stuck with them not because of loyalty but because of ease. I knew my way around their website and all my address details were stored with them. They capitalised on my laziness by offering a reduction in the delivery charge if I paid 6 months in advance.

I now use their Tesco App on my iPad every week and as I know it so well feel that I should use this knowledge to go through the pros and pitfalls of this as a way of shopping. The App is very simple to use, you log in and up comes your own list of options. This has grown over the years to now accommodate shopping with Tesco Direct and being able to browse recipes for inspiration. The list of options is a little unnecessary but easily averted by simply choosing groceries and away you go.

A simple choice when shopping is available, either you opt for a search whereby you type in the product you want or you can browse for the item you need. The option to search has never been satisfactory as the items presented are contrived and far less than you would see if you browsed yourself.

The browsing option, for example, looking in household items for kitchen roll, is also problematic. on occasion the items are in the wrong place and kitchen roll is under the heading ‘tissues’ by mistake making the shopping experience a frustrating one.

I am more frequently finding myself using the website as I am unable to book a slot for delivery and complete my order as I am told the servers are busy, when in fact the App is simply not working properly.

The recipe section is also something I have used and is very useful for inspiration and being able to add the necessary ingredients to your basket. All the items are not always needed though and further there is no evident way of bookmarking the recipient that you have chosen for future reference, when you come to making the meal.

The Tesco App has the same limitations as many others I am sure, and although it has it’s problems it certainly beats shopping for real with two toddlers! It seems to get updated quite regularly which is great but I think that more effort should be put into the search and categorisation than adding new features for Tesco Direct.

Thanks to our sister site AppTrawler for sharing this review