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Step 2, Groceries

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the step-3-profit dept.

prostoalex writes "Fortune magazine runs an article on New York - based FreshDirect, provider of high-quality groceries. Unlike Webvan, which failed with $1B of venture capital, FreshDirect seems to make pretty good money off online grocery sales - revenues of $225M are projected by 2004. The minimum order is set at $40, the company also charges $4 for delivery." If you want to check out their store, try zip code 10022.

4 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. Um, you've never lived in New York, have you? by Blaede · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Many people don't own cars there, because of hard to find parking. And when you don't own a car, buying groceries in mass quantities is difficult, not to mention time consuming. Try doing YOUR grocery shopping without a car for the next month, let's see how you fare. Unless the store is literally within 4 blocks, you will find that carting 2 typical bags back to your house is a very time consuming chore. The fee this company charges is minor, especially in New York! I would kill for such a service here in Memphis. I currently am without a car. A backpack can only carry so many items. Like I say, try doing it without your car.

  2. Ingenious by dsanfte · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Actually it's pretty smart. If it was just a popup add or banner, we could block it with an entry in our hosts file.

    Ad Placements^H^H^H^HStories are a little harder to block.

    Other news sites do this already, you just likely don't notice it. CNN does it all the time. I know CTV Newsnet in Canada does it on the air more than once per day.

    --
    occultae nullus est respectus musicae - originally a Greek proverb
  3. For those of you on the West Coast... by SlashChick · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...both Safeway (might be IE-only) and Albertsons deliver groceries. Both charge a $9.95 delivery fee and deliver from local stores.

    I must admit, though, that I'd rather see a startup company doing this than the already-established grocery stores. I was a happy Webvan customer, and I still think the model is quite viable. (Plus, I love the FreshDirect site design.) Here's hoping FreshDirect or a similar company takes a stab at this here in the Bay Area!

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    Simpli - Your source for San Jose dedicated servers and colocation!
  4. Whats the big deal? by Ilgaz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We, here in Istanbul/Turkey have an online grocery for 4 years!

    Its Koc holdings "migros" grocery (joint venture with swiss migros) and works well, they even deliver stuff 2-3 hours later, WITHOUT any fee.

    http://online.migros.com.tr/index_sanal.html (in turkish)

    Also they use those cool GSM credit card machines so you don't have to give your CC over the net.

    I don't understand the big deal. I mean, if it was a VRML or VR shop you bought stuff by actually walking around on browser (yes a UK company exist), it would be big news, but whats the deal with this one?