What's For Dinner?

By Anita Hamilton

Think online grocers are forgotten relics from the dotcom boom days? Not so. Webvan, the e-grocery pioneer that was supposed to revolutionize the way people shop, is dead and gone, but the idea behind it lives on. According to Jupiter Research, consumers this year will buy more than $2 billion worth of groceries online--more than three times what they spent in Webvan's heyday back in 2000.

But there's a difference: instead of heading to Internet-only start-ups, customers have been clicking on the websites of regional supermarket chains like Safeway and Albertsons. The chains keep costs in check by picking items from the shelves of existing stores instead of building expensive warehouses.

To find out how well the new Web grocers deliver, we recruited a team of secret shoppers to test them. Four out of five said the experience went so well that they'd do it again. Here are their reports:

--SAFEWAY.COM The prices match the Safeway stores' (you can even use your club card), and regular shoppers of this chain will find the site comfortingly familiar. Fragile items like eggs and fruit arrived in perfect condition, and the store made sensible substitutions for out-of-stock items. Deliveries are scheduled in 2-hr. blocks between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. The delivery fee is $9.95, or $4.95 for purchases of $150 or more.

--ALBERTSONS.COM Ice cream and frosted cupcakes arrived shipshape, but our Seattle shopper was disappointed to find a slim selection of fresh fish and organic food. "I had to go through six pages of yogurt to find out that they didn't have any organic yogurt," he says. And while the delivery person was prompt and polite (deliveries are scheduled in 90-min. blocks from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.), the fresh flowers the shopper ordered were forgotten. He decided he'd rather avoid the $9.95 delivery fee and do his own shopping.

--POTASHBROS.COM This small Chicago grocer's site impressed us with its convenient, 30-min. windows and same-day delivery for orders placed by 10 a.m. Asparagus and vine-ripened tomatoes arrived "perfect and unblemished," our secret shopper reports. Best of all, she adds, "I didn't have to wait in line and worry about my car being hit in the parking lot by crazy carts." Delivery is from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. for $7 to $10.

--PUBLIXDIRECT.COM Our Miami Beach, Fla., shopper says more sophisticated search features would have made it easier to wade through the site of this Florida-based chain. "I want more items but organized in a better way," she says. The quality of the produce was mixed: tomatoes were red and ripe but bean sprouts were wilted, watery and brown. Still, "I would definitely do it again," she says. The minimum order is $50, with a $7.95 delivery fee. Deliveries are from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. in 90-min. slots.

--FRESHDIRECT.COM Started by a co-founder of New York City's popular Fairway Uptown store, FreshDirect specializes in meat and produce. Prices were comparable to those at Fairway, and fruit was carefully packaged to avoid damage. The delivery guy arrived right on time (deliveries are in 2-hr. slots from 4 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends), but several eggs were broken, and the bread was frozen. First-time shoppers get $50 worth of free groceries, and the $3.95 delivery fee is waived for your first three orders.