Update: Check out the 2016 listing of Special Offers from the various Northern Ireland grocery chains.
Early 2009 saw the setting up of a number of businesses designed to take the pain out of shopping in Newry for Irish consumers. These businesses would both take you up north by bus and bring your shopping home for you, or they’d take delivery of your online shopping orders for you to their warehouses up north and then deliver them to your house.
Of the three in particular that I’d noticed, only one of those is actually still operating – and even that one seems to have had some issues and is now under “new management”.
Don’t get me wrong here; I’m not lamenting the departure of these businesses, merely making an observation. I was never fully convinced by that type of business model – essentially they’re a combination of importers and courier companies. That, and some of the pretty negative feedback I’d received through this site, meant there probably wasn’t anything in it for Irish consumers.
I wrote before how Irish consumers should avoid using RecessionBusTours.ie – now longer in operation. I referred to SmartSavers.ie previously as well but had no opinion on them one way or the other – they’re also no longer in operation. The only one of the three still working is DealHunter.ie – which has gone through a change in management.
It’s obvious that there isn’t a stable market in Ireland for these kind of services – despite all the talk about the vast savings that are said to be had when shopping up north.
Which got me to thinking? Is the shopping up north phenomenon at the moment as much about having a day out as it is about saving money? And lets face it, doing your shopping up north is a full days effort rather than a couple of hours if you shop local.
Do you shop up north? Do you travel up yourself rather than use these kinds of services? Maybe you have taken your hints from ValueIreland and don’t trust them.