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Shoppers wary of browsing the Internet for groceries

David Levesque

12/28/1998

It took some convincing, but consumers
today are more comfortable buying
virtually everything from clothes to
furniture over the Internet. However,
it’s a small and slow growing
percentage of shoppers who are willing
to use their mouse over the rattling
grocery store shopping cart.
“The food shopping experience will not be replaced by the PC and
modem. People want to see the produce and meats they are buying first
hand,” said Bernard J. Rogan, spokesman for Shaw’s Supermarket.
The East Bridgewater, Mass.-based supermarket chain offered online
shopping for 11 months before it was put to rest this year.
Rogan said the program died after the vendor of the service refused to
renew its contract with Shaw’s. Customers were making their orders via
the telephone and not the computer, which was too costly for the vendor
to service.
While Shaw’s did see a steady growth in the amount of orders through the
service, only 6 percent of customers actually used a computer, while the
others picked up the telephone. Rogan said the program was appealing
mainly because it included home delivery.
“Unless you have a PC strapped to your thigh you’re not going to
grocery shop the way you would if you went to the store,” he said.
Rogan didn’t rule out a return to the program, but said the process
would have to be refined and consumers will need to be more comfortable
with their computers.
Audrey Guskey, a national expert on marketing and supermarket trends,
said the comfort level is not far behind.
“I would think this type of service would be of interest to Baby
Boomers. Even more so the Generation X people will have the most
comfort, because they grew up behind a computer,” she said.
Guskey believes that online food shopping is an ideal market.
“Unlike clothes, which many people don’t buy online, you don’t have
to try food on to make sure it fits,” she explained. “Food is also
something consumers buy out of habit and they buy the same kinds of
brands. It’s a very easy thing to order.”
If anybody was excited about the possibility of wide-spread online
grocery shopping it would the grocery stores, said Guskey.
“They would not need as many employees. It would be much easier to
staff a store, because there wouldn’t be the guessing of what time will
be the most busy during the day. Also, employees can collect the items
ordered online throughout the day,” she said.
She added that not as much physical space would be needed to display
items.
“I think it has the potential to save stores tremendous amounts of money
and hopefully they will pass the savings to the customers,” Guskey
added. “This form of shopping is the future.”
At least one company has its future tied to online grocery shopping.
Peapod, a Chicago area business, provides online grocery shopping
services to supermarket chains throughout the country, including Stop &
Shop.
The company started in 1989 with 400 households and today has over
98,000 customers.
“We know our membership likes using us because of the convenience, which
would be the first reason. The second would be the quality of our
foods,” said Mary Wade Kiscaden, Peapod spokeswoman.
She said customers can order food with 15 minutes online and make a
repeat order by simply pushing one button. The items are sold at the
same price as is available in the stores, but there is a charge related
to the delivery of the goods.
The company recently changed the way it works with its supermarket
partners. Instead of collecting the food from the various markets,
Peopod now has its own warehouses of items provided by the supermarkets.
“Some people can’t afford to spend time in the grocery stores. This has
become a household management tool,” Kiscaden said.
She added that her company is constantly working on upgrading technology