Grocery shopping online has become more popular since the start of the pandemic.
And while it can be handy for those who can't or prefer not to go into the supermarkets, shoppers can be faced with some challenges.
One of the risks when it comes to ordering a food shop online is the matter of stock.
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Many customers won't know if something is out of stock until they receive their order and an out-of-stock item.
And the worst supermarket to give the strangest substitutes have been revealed.
In a recent survey, Which? asked over 1,300 online supermarket shoppers whether they had received a substitution with their latest grocery order.
The consumer champion found that overall, two in five (39%) shoppers had received a replacement item in their most recent shop.
With ice cream being swapped with frozen fish, customers were also asked what had been the weirdest substitution they had received over the last 12 months.
By a narrow margin, Aldi is the most likely to put substitution in food orders, with nearly half (49%) of Aldi customers telling Which? they had a replacement in their most recent shop.
The budget supermarket now has a click and collect service.
A contender for the most unusual substitution for an Aldi customer was Ben and Jerry's Phish Food ice cream instead of the breaded fish fillets they had ordered.
Another Aldi shopper told Which? they had been confused when they had received cooking oil instead of milk.
Half (48%) of customers who had ordered online at Sainsbury’s (48%) told Which? they had received substitutions in their most recent online shop.
One shopper reported ordering Sainsbury's sponge scourers but instead received a Victoria sponge cake- not that we would mind that swap.
Another said they had received beef stock instead of brandy butter.
Nearly half (45%) of Asda shoppers received replacement items in their most recent online order.
Which? heard from one customer who received sausage rolls instead of toilet rolls. Another said they had a pack of Cadbury Creme Eggs substituted with a ‘box of bog-standard hen’s eggs'.
Around four in 10 (43%) Morrisons shoppers reported getting substitutions in their most recent shopping order.
And a customer shopper was left with dog food rather than the breadsticks they ordered.
Another had their Domestos cleaning product swapped out for a bottle of orange squash.
We're not sure how well orange squash would make a cleaner.
A similar proportion of shoppers (41%) with online-only supermarket Ocado reported getting substitutions. In one case, a shopper told Which? they had received a jar of mayonnaise instead of a bar of soap.
Two in five (39%) Tesco shoppers said they had received replacement items in their most recent shop.
One shopper told Which? they found duck paste in their shopping in lieu of the duct tape they had ordered.
Which? found that a third of Waitrose customers (36%) had received replacements in their most recent food order, including one baffled shopper who received tampons instead of shaving cream.
Amazon Fresh customers were amongst the least likely to receive a dodgy substitution, with only a quarter (26%) of shoppers affected.
Although one shopper did say that they received dark chocolate brunch bars instead of the Dolmio sauce they had ordered.
Those who shopped online at Iceland were the least likely to get a replacement, with only one in five (18%) customers affected on their most recent shop.
However, the consumer champion heard from one surprised grandparent who accidentally gave their little ones a spicy snack because they had not realised their plain cheese biscuits had been replaced by a chilli alternative.
Customers with special dietary requirements fared badly when it came to getting substitutions, across all the supermarkets included in the study.
Shoppers complained about getting meat or dairy instead of vegetarian or vegan alternatives.
One customer said: “As a vegetarian and vegan family, we’ve learnt quite quickly that this isn't on the radar of the substitution system.”
The same was true for customers with food intolerances. One shopper who had their gluten-free plain flour substituted with regular self-raising flour told Which? “It is an allergen food, not just any food”.
Which? found that not all substitutions were bad, however, and some even left customers better off.
One happy Asda shopper told Which? they had received three £60 bottles of whisky to replace three £25 ones that were out of stock.
Ele Clark, Which? Retail Editor, said: “While product substitutions in your online shopping can sometimes be genuinely helpful, our research has shown that they can also be downright ridiculous.
“You do have the right to reject substitutions at the point of delivery, or you could opt out of receiving substitutions altogether - though this can result in a real headache if the key ingredient for your dinner that night is missing.
"If you do end up with a substitution that you don't want, always contact the supermarket and ask for a refund.”
