Online Grocery Shopping: Way To Go?
You can almost anything via your computer, even your groceries.
But do the companies that provide the service deliver on their promises of quality?
On The Early Show Friday, consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen came through with the scoop on buying food the high-tech way.
She says the millions of consumers who do their grocery shopping online are expected to spend more than $4 billion on it this year.
Among them, Gennifer Calise, a working Manhattan mother of a ten-month-old, who summed up her reasons for going that route when she told Koeppen it's "quicker and easier."
Calise gets her shopping done in 15 minutes by clicking away, while a typical trip to the supermarket takes her about an hour. And that doesn't include much travel time: Calise buys online even though the supermarket she buys from is on the ground floor of her apartment building!
"I am not lugging my son to the grocery store and lugging him back," she says. "I can be here and play with him on the floor and be clicking online at the same time.
"These days, having a kid and a full time job, I don't do anything that isn't easy. S I wouldn't be doing it if it didn't make a difference."
Calise adds that most of her friends buy food online, and Koeppen notes that most of the consumers shopping online for groceries are women.
Online shoppng facts:
In 2005, $3.3 billion was spent on online grocery shopping. That's projected to hit $4.2 billion this year, and double, to $8.4 billion, by 2010. Overall, groceries are a $640 billion business. There are currently five million people who shop online for groceries, and that's only makes up 2% of the online population.
Koeppen herself gave four of the major online grocery providers a try, and reported on how she fared with each of them.
PEAPOD.COM
Koeppen's order came in grocery bags. She ordered many items in hopes of planning a fun family picnic. The hotdogs she ordered were not in the bags. There was no substitution in the bag, so no hotdogs. She received everything else on her grocery list. The prices online were all comparable to those in the brick and mortar supermarket. The site is user friendly. Customers are able to search for foods that are categorized by section. Once in a selected department, you can sort foods by price, specials, popularity, calories, fat, carbs, cholesterol, dietary fiber, kosher, organic, protein, sodium, and sugars. That's great for people who love to read labels! The site gives delivery times to choose from, and the order arrived right on time.
The good:
-The whipped cream and yogurts came cold
-The strawberries were all great looking
The bad:
-No hotdogs, no substitution offered
-Flowers: Ordered a bouquet of flowers. Online, they were pictured as purple. They arrived in white. This was probably a substitution.
-Cheese platter presentation was unattractive and the cheese was really warm. Looked like pieces of the cheese were missing.
-Beans: The can was dented. Susan wouldn't buy a dented can in the actual supermarket.
About Peapod.com:
-Largest online grocery store
-Since inception 17 years ago, has delivered to 8 million customers
-From June '05 to June '06, had 250,000 active customers
-12,000 customers a day go to the Web site
-Has perishables.
-Serves Connecticut, New York, Rhode island, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, the rest of the New England coast, Chicago and Milwaukee.
-Associated with Stop & Shop and Giant on East Coast. Those stores offer bonus packages and you can use that online to get additional discounts. The online site keeps your profile in its memory.
-Site organizes many of its products by nutritional value, sodium, fiber, calories. That's helpful to people on a variety of diets, and to picky eaters. You can also sort by price.
-Delivery: $100 and over is $6.95. $100 and under costs $9.95.
-Customers can save additional money online by using manufacturers' coupons and by selecting less desirable delivery times.
-Grocery packers aren't in stores, but warehouses, to control quality and out-of-stock items. If something is out-of-stock, customers have the option of substituting a similar item.
-There is a 100 percent guarantee on food. You can get a refund if you are not happy.
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. But do the companies that provide the service deliver on their promises of quality?
On The Early Show Friday, consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen came through with the scoop on buying food the high-tech way.
She says the millions of consumers who do their grocery shopping online are expected to spend more than $4 billion on it this year.
Among them, Gennifer Calise, a working Manhattan mother of a ten-month-old, who summed up her reasons for going that route when she told Koeppen it's "quicker and easier."
Calise gets her shopping done in 15 minutes by clicking away, while a typical trip to the supermarket takes her about an hour. And that doesn't include much travel time: Calise buys online even though the supermarket she buys from is on the ground floor of her apartment building!
"I am not lugging my son to the grocery store and lugging him back," she says. "I can be here and play with him on the floor and be clicking online at the same time.
"These days, having a kid and a full time job, I don't do anything that isn't easy. S I wouldn't be doing it if it didn't make a difference."
Calise adds that most of her friends buy food online, and Koeppen notes that most of the consumers shopping online for groceries are women.
Online shoppng facts:
In 2005, $3.3 billion was spent on online grocery shopping. That's projected to hit $4.2 billion this year, and double, to $8.4 billion, by 2010. Overall, groceries are a $640 billion business. There are currently five million people who shop online for groceries, and that's only makes up 2% of the online population.
Koeppen herself gave four of the major online grocery providers a try, and reported on how she fared with each of them.
PEAPOD.COM
Koeppen's order came in grocery bags. She ordered many items in hopes of planning a fun family picnic. The hotdogs she ordered were not in the bags. There was no substitution in the bag, so no hotdogs. She received everything else on her grocery list. The prices online were all comparable to those in the brick and mortar supermarket. The site is user friendly. Customers are able to search for foods that are categorized by section. Once in a selected department, you can sort foods by price, specials, popularity, calories, fat, carbs, cholesterol, dietary fiber, kosher, organic, protein, sodium, and sugars. That's great for people who love to read labels! The site gives delivery times to choose from, and the order arrived right on time.
The good:
-The whipped cream and yogurts came cold
-The strawberries were all great looking
The bad:
-No hotdogs, no substitution offered
-Flowers: Ordered a bouquet of flowers. Online, they were pictured as purple. They arrived in white. This was probably a substitution.
-Cheese platter presentation was unattractive and the cheese was really warm. Looked like pieces of the cheese were missing.
-Beans: The can was dented. Susan wouldn't buy a dented can in the actual supermarket.
About Peapod.com:
-Largest online grocery store
-Since inception 17 years ago, has delivered to 8 million customers
-From June '05 to June '06, had 250,000 active customers
-12,000 customers a day go to the Web site
-Has perishables.
-Serves Connecticut, New York, Rhode island, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, the rest of the New England coast, Chicago and Milwaukee.
-Associated with Stop & Shop and Giant on East Coast. Those stores offer bonus packages and you can use that online to get additional discounts. The online site keeps your profile in its memory.
-Site organizes many of its products by nutritional value, sodium, fiber, calories. That's helpful to people on a variety of diets, and to picky eaters. You can also sort by price.
-Delivery: $100 and over is $6.95. $100 and under costs $9.95.
-Customers can save additional money online by using manufacturers' coupons and by selecting less desirable delivery times.
-Grocery packers aren't in stores, but warehouses, to control quality and out-of-stock items. If something is out-of-stock, customers have the option of substituting a similar item.
-There is a 100 percent guarantee on food. You can get a refund if you are not happy.
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