Bread from the cybermarket: Grocery delivery to homes may make a comeback, with the help of modems

American Demographics, Jan, 1996 by Tim Cavanaugh

Grocery delivery to homes may make a comeback, with the help of modems.

Grocery shopping is all about choices. It's a question of cash or check, paper or plastic, and fat, low-fat, or no-fat. Now consumers in some areas have another choice to make--to shop in person or via a modem. Supermarkets across the country are experimenting with online shopping services that allow people to buy groceries without leaving the comfort of their homes.

Aimed at two-income households with more money than time, the services charge a fee to have someone pick up groceries for you. Like old-fashioned home delivery, a live human being still has to take the cans and boxes from store shelves to your door. The difference lies in how you place the order, and through whom.

Shoppers Express of Bethesda, Maryland, and Peapod of Chicago offer slightly different versions of essentially similar electronic shopping services. Both companies contract with local grocery stores to offer the service. Shoppers Express can be reached through America Online, while Peapod has developed its own software to guide shoppers through virtual supermarkets. The basic process is the same for both services. Shoppers peruse store inventories in printed or online catalogs and place their order online.

Shoppers Express has store employees fill the orders, while Peapod uses its own employees. Both provide same-day delivery. Peapod is a membership service for which customers pay $6.95 a month, $6.95 per delivery, and 5 percent of the total bill to cover the cost of having someone else squeeze your Charmin. Shoppers Express charges a flat rate of $9.95 regardless of order size.

One expert says that despite the glut of online services, he thinks there is a place for electronic grocery shopping. "We just tried it, and it worked out pretty well," says Don Rittner of Schenectady, New York, a long-time online junkie and publisher of The Mesh--Inside Cyberspace. Rittner is a habitual impulse buyer, and a trip to the store for $60 of groceries can cost him $90. With electronic shopping, he is less tempted to buy what he doesn't need. "So even with the $10 charge, it saves me $20," he says. Supermarkets don's went to lose all their impulse buyers this way. What they hope to gain by offering the services is loyalty.

Supermarkets know that online shopping currently caters to a small and select portion of their market, but "we want to be on the cutting edge of technology, which is why we are trying these systems," says Safeway spokesman Debra Lambert. Oakland-based Safeway is one of the nation's largest grocery chains. It is testing both systems to determine which works best for customers. "We know that it's a small segment," says Lambert. "But we see it as a customer service."

Online food shopping has its drawbacks. "We had some problems," Rittner concedes. "We asked for a three-gallon jug of spring water, and they brought us three one-gallon containers. You have to be very specific." Consumers can't comparison shop on current systems, either, because prices don't appear in the catalogs. And buying produce just isn't the same when you can't fondle the fruit. Supermarkets are trying to overcome the latter shortfall by developing customized shopping lists. If you like to buy bananas that are slightly green, for example, the person compiling your order will know to pick bunches accordingly.

If home food shopping isn't available in your area, don't despair. Shoppers Express and Peapod are both in the process of expanding to more supermarket chains and cities. And for those who aren't on the information highway, they also offer their services the old-fashioned way--by telephone.