Easy navigation and ordering at Cold Storage online

ORDERING

I did not have to register for an account to order groceries, which is convenient if you plan on just trying out the service.

However, I could not see the available delivery slots before placing an order, so users may fill up their basket with goods only to find out later that there are no suitable time slots.

I found that navigating Cold Storage's online store was the easiest of all the four services, as the search function gave me the most relevant results first.

For example, searching for "chicken" gave me several types of fresh chicken among the top few hits, with other less relevant products like chicken soup and chicken-flavoured cat food further down.

However, this may also be because it does not have a massive inventory of goods. When I searched for cucumber and Chinese parsley, there was only one listed product for each vegetable.

Price-wise, Cold Storage was on the expensive side. A 5kg bag of SongHe Thai rice was $15.50, $1 more than FairPrice's. A 320ml bottle of Tai Hua standard dark soya sauce was $1.60, compared with $1.25 at FairPrice.

DELIVERY

I scheduled the delivery for 9am to 1pm, and the order came at 10.50am. The groceries were delivered in a refrigerated truck, so everything was cold to the touch, even the rice and sauces.

The breakables, like glass bottles, were packed in a cardboard box with the rice, while the fresh meat and vegetables were in separate bags.

I had ordered a 320ml bottle of Tai Hua dark soya sauce, but when I opened the bag I found a 640ml one instead, probably because the smaller bottle had sold out.

There was no indication on the invoice that they had replaced it with a bigger bottle, and the deliveryman did not highlight the change.

Shopping at Cold Storage online may be cheaper than shopping in-store. There was a price tag on the cucumbers that read $1.90, but I paid only $1.45 for the pair, as stated on the website.

GROCERY LIST

Rice (5kg SongHe Thai rice, $15.50)
Chicken (1kg kampung chicken, $8.65)
Ginger (200g Malaysia old ginger, $2.00)
Pandan (50g Malaysia pandan leaf, $0.65)
Chinese parsley (50g Malaysia Chinese parsley, $2.30)
Chicken rice paste (370g Prima Taste Hainanese Chicken Rice, $8.15)
Chicken rice chilli (180g Glory chicken rice chilli, $1.90)
Ginger paste (unavailable)
Dark sauce (320ml Tai Hua standard dark soya sauce, $1.60)
Cucumbers (two Malaysia cucumbers, $1.45)
Delivery: $12 for orders below $60 and $7 for orders above that.

Total: Nine items for $42.20 with a $12 delivery charge, for a total of $54.20.

This article was first published on October 7, 2015.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.