🚀 go-pugleaf

: 	So how many of you would actually use an online service (a
: webpage) where you can order groceries (mainly non-perishables) over the
: internet and pay with a credit card and have them shipped via UPS or FedEx
: 2nd or 3rd day?  What if they were about 30%-50% less than grocery store
: prices?

This idea sounds half-baked to me. <chuckle> How exactly would you justify
shipping a case of coke?  (18 lbs)  Or anything perishable?  If I ordered
three cases of coke and, say, a bag of dog food (in case I got hungry
after drinking all that coke ;-) the "food" bill would be $25, and the
"shipping" bill would be $90.  It would have to be shipped in some sort of
monstrous, indestructable box, and then what would I do with THAT when it
finally showed up?  Carry it home from the post office? hehehehe.

The only way it would work is if you teamed up with some sort of delivery
service.  For instance, you could choose some major cities around the
country, let's say Atlanta, Chicago, NY, etc... You know, places that are
traditionally a pain in the ass to get around.  Then you could put up a
big website, and let people "shop" online.  You could pick out products,
click them into your shopping basket.  Hey, maybe you could even use
coupons.  You'd pay for them with a credit card, plus a 10% surcharge that
would also guarantee you delivery within one day, at a time you specify.

Well, this _did_ happen in atlanta.  I'm pretty sure one of the Sunday
papers 6-7 months back had a front-page spread on the service - probably
in the technology section.  Then, 3 or 4 months later, there was a
slightly smaller story, that basically said the company folded because no
one cared.  It was a good deal, and a good idea, but nobody chose to use
it.  Maybe I'm wrong - it might still be around.  And like someone else
mentioned, I thought Kroger themselves offered some sort of service like
this... 

I remember sitting in somebody's room, and we were clicking on stuff, and
saying how cool it was, and then we realized that if we *drove* the 5
miles to Kroger, we could have our food in 30 mins, instead of 24 hours.

Why bother?  Unless the product is unique, *really good*, and priced
attractively, there's really not much of a reason to shop for groceries
online.  It's not like anyone is typically THAT far from a grocery store.

Adam

--
Adam W. Lotz
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
Internet: al49@prism.gatech.edu