INDEPENDENT SHOP / GUEST CHECKOUT TEST / ASSESSED 9 AUGUST 2026

Hodmedod’s review

Hodmedod’s lets a visitor browse detailed product information, add an item and reach payment as a guest. The awkward bit is a marketing-email choice that arrived pre-selected rather than waiting to be invited.

86/100

Mostly CivilisedGOOD INTERNET SCORE

THE TEST

What we tested

Buy a 500g bag of British chickpeas without creating an account or joining a mailing list.

This score belongs to the task above. It is an evidence-led editorial assessment, not certification or a claim about every part of Hodmedod’s.

QUICK ANSWERS

The useful bit first.

Can you buy from Hodmedod’s without an account?

Yes. Sign-in was optional and the checkout fields remained available for a guest purchase.

Does Hodmedod’s require an app?

No. The complete shopping journey works through the website.

What stopped it scoring higher?

The checkout pre-selected marketing email consent, and BIC found a few accessibility limitations in shop controls.

BEST BIT

Guest checkout, clear human contact and genuinely useful product, farming, cooking and recipe information.

MAIN OFFENCE

The checkout pre-selected ‘Email me with news and offers’ rather than waiting to be invited.

JUST WORKSHUMAN FOUNDUSEFUL INTERNETNO APP REQUIRED

TEN TESTS / TOTAL 86

Score breakdown

Open each category for the observation, confidence level and source. Scores are out of ten.

01 / Just Let Me Use It9/10

Can I accomplish the core task without being forced through unnecessary barriers?

A product could be found, added to the basket and taken to payment directly. The only notable interruption was optional marketing consent.

CONFIDENCE: HIGHBritish chickpeas

02 / No-App Test10/10

Does this genuinely need an app?

The complete shopping journey works on the website. No app is requested or required.

CONFIDENCE: HIGHHodmedod’s shop

03 / No-Account Test10/10

Do I genuinely need an account for this?

Checkout displayed Sign in as an option while leaving the email, delivery and payment fields available to a guest.

CONFIDENCE: HIGHShopping basket

04 / Exit Is a Feature8/10

Can I leave?

Returns are documented, customers can contact the company directly and an account is not needed for a one-off purchase. Some portability criteria are not relevant to a bag of chickpeas.

CONFIDENCE: MEDIUMReturns policy

05 / Dark Pattern Test7/10

Is the interface trying to manipulate me?

The main choices were clear, but the checkout arrived with marketing email consent already checked. Express payment options were optional rather than obstructive.

CONFIDENCE: HIGHPrivacy policy

06 / Privacy & Proportionality7/10

Does the service collect roughly what it needs, rather than everything it can?

The store explains its privacy practices and asks for information expected for delivery, but the pre-selected marketing consent and ecommerce tracking prevent a higher score.

CONFIDENCE: MEDIUMPrivacy policy

07 / Access for Humans7/10

Can a reasonably broad range of people actually use it?

The checkout provided a skip link, labelled form controls and a clear heading structure. Several shop controls used icon fonts or weak accessible names. This was not a WCAG audit.

CONFIDENCE: MEDIUMHodmedod’s home

08 / Does the Bloody Thing Work?8/10

Is it fast, reliable and technically competent enough to use?

Product, basket and hosted checkout pages loaded reliably and retained the selected item without errors during the test.

CONFIDENCE: HIGHBritish chickpeas

09 / Can I Find a Human?10/10

Can I understand who is responsible and contact somebody when things go wrong?

The site publishes a named company, company number, postal address, email address, telephone number and contact page.

CONFIDENCE: HIGHContact Hodmedod

10 / Worth Visiting10/10

Does this actually contribute something useful to the web?

Detailed provenance, cooking instructions, recipes and farming stories make the website useful beyond extracting a transaction.

CONFIDENCE: HIGHHodmedod’s recipes

EVIDENCE LIMITS

What we could not verify

The final paid order and fulfilment experience
A formal WCAG accessibility audit
The authenticated account and deletion journeys
A complete tracker or data-protection audit

METHOD, CORRECTIONS & REASSESSMENT

A task first. Evidence second. Jokes last.

The Good Internet Score examines whether a digital service works, respects people and leaves them with reasonable control. Ten equally weighted categories produce a score out of 100.

Scores can change when services change or better evidence appears. Companies cannot pay for a better result. Relevant relationships will be disclosed.

Read the full methodology and compare all services Send a correction

OBSERVED PATTERN

Accounts, apps and the price of entry

These evidence tags connect this task-specific assessment to a broader pattern found across all ten services.

Guest access availableWeb alternative availableHuman support available

Compare account and app dependency across all ten servicesSee where registration is useful, where it is merely convenient for the service, and what still works on the open web.