They’re as rare as hen’s teeth and getting one feels like winning the jackpot: I’m talking about supermarket home delivery slots of course!

Who would have thought bagging one would ever prove so difficult?

supermarket home delivery

I’ve always done our ‘big shop’ online and have happily booked our slot week by week for years – until lockdown changed all that and now the world and his wife wants one too.

So far we’ve managed to bag either a Tesco home delivery or click & collect slot every week since lockdown, initially because I booked a bundle before lockdown when pregnant women were advised to self-isolate and latterly because I’ve discovered there are certain tactics to going about it.

With a newborn baby at home and with Misery Guts being type 1 diabetic a supermarket is the last place we want to visit at the moment, and it turns out my knack of getting my hands on 90s boy band tickets back in the day has come in rather handy indeed!

So, if you’re having trouble getting your hands on one too I thought I’d share how I’ve gone about it for six weeks and counting now, meaning we haven’t had to visit a supermarket in weeks.

How I’ve bagged a supermarket home delivery slot every week since lockdown

1. Log into your account well before new slots are released

I’m talking an hour and a half before, not 10 minutes. With Tesco, once you’ve logged into your account you’re logged in for two hours, meaning if you do it well before new slots are released you don’t need to go through the rigmaroll of putting in your email address and password before being added to the queue – you’ll just go straight to the queue.

2. If slots are released at midnight, don’t wait until 11.55pm to refresh the page

I’ve found myself in a queue to book a slot as early as 11.30pm, so the sooner you refresh your page once logged in, the better.

supermarket home delivery

3. Accept there’s no rhyme or reason to it

Something I learnt the hard way after staying up until midnight five nights in a row and failing to bag one. With Tesco, slots are now being released as and when they become available, rather than at set times on set days. Like everything else at the moment, it is what it is and you just have to go with it.

4. Check back at random times throughout the day

I managed to bag our latest delivery slot on a Thursday lunchtime after logging in to find three more days had suddenly been added. And it felt like winning the jackpot!

supermarket home delivery

5. Network

The other day a friend in Surrey (thank you – you know who you are!) alerted me to the fact new slots might have been released where we are (Sussex) after her friend in Essex randomly logged on and managed to bag a slot. The more people you have onto it, the better!

6. Keep your eyes peeled on social media

It’s amazing what you hear on the grapevine, and by following local threads on social media you’ll be in the know when new delivery slots are released. And don’t forget to do your bit and tell others if slots suddenly become free in your area.

https://twitter.com/mrsnataliebrown/status/1255828259973083138?s=19

Have you been booking supermarket home delivery slots since lockdown? Do you have any top tips? I’d love to know what they are!

If you liked this you may also enjoy reading:

7 things NOT to say to a pregnant woman in a pandemic!

Will I be forced to give birth alone?

10 things lockdown has taught me about my family