Store offers new way to do your grocery shopping

Everyone needs groceries. Not everyone enjoys pushing a cart up and down the aisles. And some people are too busy to get to the store.

To help, Piggly Wiggly Carolina has launched a pilot program called "Click'n Shop" that allows customers to select groceries online and pick them up at the store already bagged. The Shelter Cove location is one of 10 stores in the state, and the only one in Beaufort County, to offer the program.

At the Shelter Cove store, those who used the online shopping option have been a mixture of tourists and locals.

Tourists like the service because they can place an order before arriving on Hilton Head Island and then pick up what they need without using up vacation time to go grocery shopping, said Billy Simons, co-operator of the store.

Simons is trying to partner with rental companies so that more visitors know about the option before they arrive next summer.

"We've got such a huge influx (of shoppers) in the summer," Simons said. Online shopping "can help ease that load."

Harris Teeter has a similar pilot program, but the closest store that offers the service is in Charleston. Fresh Market allows customers to order nonperishable goods online to be shipped through the mail.

Simons' store has staff trained to pick up groceries, including meat and produce. And the online form allows shoppers to ask for specific brands or make other special requests.

"People don't understand that it's a lot tougher to pick out groceries for someone else," he said.

Customers can order as little as four hours or as much as a week in advance as long as there is a pick-up time available. The store can handle four pick-ups every 30 minutes, Simons said.

There's a $5 charge for ordering online.

Rita Postell, spokeswoman for Piggly Wiggly Carolina, said the company doesn't expect the online option to replace traditional shopping for most customers.

"It's not for everyone, that's for sure," she said. "Some people want to go to the store for social reasons or to select their own bananas or cuts of meat."

Online grocery delivery failed in some cases during the dot.com bust. California-based Webvan put together a series of regional grocery warehouses for local deliveries, but went bankrupt in 2001.

Publix tested an online grocery service in south Florida in 2001, but discontinued the program in 2003, saying the online business did not meet the grocer's expectations.

HOW DOES IT WORK

• Visit thepig.net and go to the "Click'n Shop" link on the right.

• Select grocery items from the list.

• Reserve a time to pick up the items and provide any special instructions.

• Go to the Shelter Cove Piggly Wiggly to pick up and pay for the groceries at the customer service desk or have them delivered to your car.