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Internet shopping makes your mouse a grocery cart
July 21, 1997
Web posted at: 5:25 p.m. EDT (2125 GMT)From Correspondent Lori Waffenschmidt
(CNN) -- Having too much fun on your computer to go food shopping? How about doing both? If you're willing to spend a little more, you can shop from your home or office on the Internet. Your keyboard, mouse and monitor serve as your grocery cart.
Peapod
Peapod is one of the largest online grocery shopping and delivery companies, serving several major cities across the U.S. The site will tell you if your area is covered.
But before making your way through Peapod's virtual aisles, you'll have to complete a three-step process which includes registration and downloading free software.
As you shop, you can browse or search for a specific item, all the while checking nutritional information. In some cases, you can see a picture of the product.
Prices depend on location. In Chicago, for example, there's a monthly membership fee of $4.95. In addition, for every order you'll pay $6.95 plus 5% of the total cost of the food.
In some cities the monthly fee is being waved for the summer. There's also no monthly fee for Peapod's commercial service which delivers groceries to offices.
Shopper's Express
Shopper's Express is similar to Peapod, serving some of the same cities.
It also has many of the same informational features.
You can write notes telling your personal shopper to pick green or ripe bananas, or say what to substitute if an item is out of stock.
It's easy to compare prices and use coupons, so you may even save enough on a big order to break even on the shopping and delivery fee, which ranges from $7.95 to $9.95, depending on the city. There are no monthly fees or additional charges.
Choose a delivery time and your groceries are on their way.
NetGrocer
NetGrocer works much like the other two online shopping services but it doesn't get its groceries from a local grocery chain. Instead, NetGrocer has its own warehouse filled with non-perishable items.
They are delivered for as little as $2.99 in 2 to 4 days, via Federal Express. You can set up automatic deliveries every week or month.
Related sites:
Peapod Shopper's Express NetGrocer Red Wagon Supermarkets TeleGrocer Groceries Online All Things Delivered Groceries To Go
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