Online shopping

Online shopping could make your life easier if you find it hard to take time away from the person you care for, you can't take them to the shops with you, or you don't have your own car or access to public transport.

This can be particularly useful for grocery shopping where the bags can be brought straight into your kitchen if you want.

When you shop online it is easy to see how much you are spending rather than having a nasty shock at the till. However, you should keep an eye on the delivery charge. 

Once you have shopped online for your groceries you can usually have a regular shop set up so you don’t need to find all the items again.  

Help to start shopping online

Some local carer services offer help to get you up and running.  Find your local carer service to see if they can offer you any support.

You may feel happier about shopping online if you someone showed you how to do it:

  • Your local carer services may offer computer training courses and help to get you online at home.
  • Learnmyway offers free online courses if you are just getting started with computers and the internet. They also have an online course about online safety.
  • Most libraries have computers and tablets you can use. They may have staff or volunteers that could help you and may also offer training courses.
  • There is lots of advice online about shopping safely. Internet shopping: how to buy online on Digital Unite has step-by-step instructions to get you started shopping online safely.
  • Find out more about online shopping on Get Safe Online and about shopping and paying safely online on The Money Advice Service.
  • Also have a look at our pages about avoiding scams and fraud as this includes information about how to stay safe online.

Ask someone else to shop online for you

Some charities offer to do your online grocery shopping for you. For example, some local Age UK branches have shopping services where you can give your list to them and they will order it for you – without you needing to go near a computer.

Or you may have a friend, neighbour or relative who is happy to do your online shopping for you. It never hurts to ask and they may be happy to help out.

Date revised: 17/07/2017