Issue Date: August 8, 2004
Virtually delicious: The wonders of e-groceries
Save time by ordering fresh food online and having it delivered to your door.
I used to scoff at the idea of grocery shopping online. On Sundays, I'd get up early and begin my daylong journey from market to market, fondling tomatoes, sniffing fish. Sure, there was laundry to fold and the dog to walk, but hey, good food was worth the time!
Shoppers once devoted to roaming and sniffing are now pointing and clicking.
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What it is not worth, I recently discovered, is my social life -- which was getting as stale as a 2-day-old baguette. And that's what drove me down the virtual aisles of Freshdirect.com.
Groceries have been available online for years but with limited success, thanks largely to customers wary of altering their weekly routine. There's just something people enjoy about grabbing a cart and pushing it through a supermarket, where they can sort through the fresh meats and vegetables. "If it ain't broke," stubborn shoppers said, "don't call for cleanup!" But electronic grocers such as Freshdirect and Netgrocer.com, available in select areas, have responded with timely delivery, value and quality -- so people like me, once devoted to roaming and sniffing, are now pointing and clicking.
You'll hear few complaints. Given the speed at which bad reviews travel today, successful e-grocers know they have to deliver. One time some ice cream arrived at my door a little soupy; after a brief call, it was removed from my bill. I'd tell you to stay away from the fish or the berries, but the quality is often better than what I've chosen myself.
And there are extras. Wondering what to do with food you've never tried? The site's colorful descriptions and cooking suggestions have enticed me to try broccolini, kumquats and purple potatoes. That almost makes up for missing the thrill of making my own product discoveries while wandering the aisles.
Getting food straight from producers enables these sites to keep their prices low, and online arms of supermarkets like Giant Food/Stop & Shop (Peapod.com) and Safeway (Safeway.com) run specials and even accept coupons just like the brick-and-mortars. So at the end of the day, the only significant difference in price between some groceries online and off is a small delivery charge, ranging from about $4.95 to $9.95. (There's often a minimum order, though. FreshDirect, for example, requires that you order at least $40 worth of groceries.)
There's more to love: No more wasted time -- just "express shop" (picking from last week's list), or do a quick search for those dried chilies. It sure beats standing at the back of a line that stretches down the aisle, then lugging heavy grocery bags home.
My plan this Sunday is to sleep in, hang out all day, order my groceries online and invite friends over for an evening of cooking.
-- Jen Weiss
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