$1.25 detail in Coles customer's shop reveals silver lining to shortages

Online food shopping has become more than just a convenience for Aussie shoppers.

It can also save them a bit of money at the checkout.

But only if their chosen item isn’t in stock.

And then it’s just the luck of the draw.

One mum took to social media to share her discovery after receiving an online order from Coles.

“It’s a shame not to get the other things but I love it when this happens,” parenting blogger ‘Reel Mother’ wrote on Facebook.

A screenshot of her receipt revealed that three of her chosen items weren’t in stock.

On the first two occasions, a substitute product wasn’t available.

But for her third unavailable item, a 290 gram box of Kellog’s Nutri-Grain Protein Breakfast Cereal, which normally retails at $5.75 was substituted with a 470g box of Nutri-Grain, priced at $7.00.

As explained by the supermarket chain at the top of the receipt, “where we have substituted an item, we’ve charged you at the lowest price".

Online shopping substitutes hit and miss

It’s a win-win for shoppers who don’t mind getting a slightly different product, and the phenomenon is not all that rare according to people on social media.

“I once ordered one of the small finger lamingtons,” one woman wrote. “There were 12 in that pack and they substituted it for 12 full size lamingtons. I was happy with that!”

“I ordered a 24-pack of Coke because the 30-pack was way too expensive,” someone else said. “No 24-pack in stock so they gave me a 30-pack.”

“I had one kilogram of frozen Barra fillets on special subbed for 1.3 kilograms of fresh Barra. [It] was $10 a kilo difference. Not bad Woolies, not bad!” another shared.

But it hasn’t been a triumph at the front door for all shoppers, with many being left with a sour taste in their mouth.

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“I always get such crap substitutes,” one woman posted. “I ordered 10 litres of lactose free milk and instead they gave me 10 litres of regular milk.

“Mate, how is that the same? They could of at least thrown in a couple of extra packs of toilet paper with the regular milk.”

“I ordered five small blocks of chocolate at Christmas time to give as gifts to five of my nephews,” another user wrote. “I got one giant block of chocolate instead.”

While one person had meat pies substituted with ice blocks, another arrived home from an overseas trip hoping for ham.

Instead, they got cat food.

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