On-Line Groceries Aren't For All

Computer Life column for March 21, 1998
by
Richard Gordon

I recently received e-mail from a colleague singing the praises of NetGrocer (www.netgrocer.com). That's right, an on-line grocery store that delivers non-perishable items to your door.

My colleague claimed that NetGrocer saved him about 10% on his shopping bill. I rummaged around in my coat pocket, found a sales receipt from my last trip to the Stanton ShopRite, logged in to NetGrocer and compared prices. I didn't see any price savings, but immediately noticed that NetGrocer didn't have some of the items I usually buy.

To give NetGrocer a fairer test, I compiled a list of 13 items from applesauce to soup--things I really would buy--at their Web site. I also looked up the price for national brands of disposable diapers and baby wipes--I don't need to buy those any more, thank heavens, but I remember those as being annoyingly bulky items.

I tried my hardest to overlook the lack of brands and varieties at NetGrocer. For example, NetGrocer only had 3 flavors of Mott juice boxes listed, didn't carry the brand of detergent I use, didn't carry the brand of canned soup I prefer, and didn't have any dye-free paper towels.

Anyway, I took my list of items and prices to my local store.

My shopping list tallied up to the exact same total at NetGrocer and ShopRite. When I added the diapers and wipes, there was a slight edge to my local ShopRite. NetGrocer would have charged me $4.99 to deliver my order, compared with the dollar or so the trip to ShopRite would cost me.

At ShopRite, I had to wait in line to check out; at NetGrocer, I had to wait for all the graphics to display every time I switched "aisles." When I went into the virtual soup aisle, for example, I had time to sort my laundry into three piles and get one load started. Further, NetGrocer's very active web page was hard to use on my 15" monitor at home--but was a bit easier to use on a larger monitor at the office.

In short, if you know exactly what you want and don't need to browse, shopping on the Web might be an alternative you are willing to explore. One of my regular readers told me that if she'd been able to log on after putting her daughter to bed and order diapers, wipes, and other bulky products over the Web--and have them delivered, she'd gladly have paid a little extra for the convenience. I chatted briefly with a shopper at ShopRite who said she'd consider it, too, "But I usually buy that kind of stuff at B.J.'s in bulk."

Personally, I think I'll keep shopping live and locally--with a high tech boost.

Free coupons on-line

If you go to Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) and search for "Grocery Coupons," you'll get a list of Web sites that want to sell you booklets of grocery coupons for $10-$30. But a friend of mine tipped me off to a site that offers grocery rebates for free: Supermarkets Online's ValuPage (www.supermarkets.com).

The ValuPage rebate program is still a bit of a novelty, but is honored at area Pathmark, ShopRite, and Super Fresh stores.

To get a ValuPage, you provide your zip code and grocery store preference and then go to a Web page that you print and take with you to the store. At the checkout, you hand the checker your ValuPage with your other coupons. She either scans a bar code or keys a numeric code into her checkout terminal before processing your order. Every time she scans an item listed on your ValuPage, you get another red-bordered checkout coupon redeemable on your next shopping trip to that same store.

So this week, I had a hybrid shopping experience. I grabbed a ValuPage from the Web, went to my local store, spent about $65.00, and got over $9.00 in rebate coupons.

What's the catch? Your shopping habits and product preferences get sold to market researchers, although Supermarkets Online swears it won't sell my e-mail or land mail addresses. And your local grocery store likes it, too. That wad of rebates redeemable only at that store will likely bring you back again.

Copyright © 1998, The News Journal Company

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