grocery shopping via the net

[cellio]

A story on CNN today suggests that grocery shopping by internet is becoming more available. Personally, I'd love it -- and not just for the reason they cite in the story, that it's more convenient for busy people. My grocery store might, theoretically, deliver 50-pound bags of cat food, and 14-pound jugs of litter, and bags full of heavy canned goods, and so on right to my front door, with no shlepping on my part? Count me in! And I'm young and (mostly) able-bodied -- this would be a real boon to those who aren't.

They list downsides of concern for spoilage (how long does it take to get the ice cream to you and will it melt first?) and people not trusting others to pick their produce. Personally, I believe it's in the stores' best interest to deliver quality goods, so I'm not concerned -- and anyway, I suspect most people wouldn't do all their shopping this way. I can easily pop into the store for milk, eggs, and salad makings once a week on the way home from work. A "real" shopping run, though, requires more time and effort. I'd be delighted to just email it in and wait for gratification.

No, for me the issues would be (1) will they deliver at convenient times, (2) will they honor coupons and other discounts, and (3) will they support order placement such as "whichever of Coke or Pepsi is cheaper this week"?

Comments

[estherchaya.livejournal.com]

with Peapod, which we have around here, it's the best way to get your produce. They want customers to be happy, so they have experts pick out the best. Also, they always have a zillion times they can deliver, and they have dry ice to put everything on if you're not going to be there. Don't know if they'll support "whichever of Coke or Pepsi is cheaper" but you can look at the price and make your choice. The thing that concerned me about it was that I was worried if I ordered, say, olive oil that they might substitute brands if the brand I wanted wasn't available. This could create a kashrus nightmare. But as it turns out, you can either use the option to substitute or use only the brands you specify. Sort of like "brand necessary" on prescriptions to avoid generics. :) We don't actually use it because I'm too lazy to do the initial work to set it up (after the first time, you can use recurring shopping lists), but I probably will eventually.