Saratoga News

Photograph by Lea Tauriello

Mary Villa prepares to select fruits and vegetables for a Peapod client who filed her 11-item order electronically. For a small fee, the groceries can be delivered within an hour of placing the order.

Surrogate Shopping

Peapod fills grocery requests made by fax, telephone and computer modem

By Katherine Petersen

Kathy Anecito scrolled through her shopping list, pausing to click her mouse on the items she needed to order. Graham crackers. Butter. Pepsi. Toilet paper.

Anecito began using Peapod Delivery Systems Inc.'s grocery service last October, during her third pregnancy, when her doctor told her to take it easy.

"With a service, I wouldn't have to go to the store with two kids and load groceries into my car," she said.

She liked the service so much that eight months after her baby's birth, she continues to use her computer to shop for groceries.

"I had thought I would cancel and go back to doing it myself, but I kind of got spoiled," she said.

Peapod buys groceries from Bay Area Safeway stores and delivers them to about 3,000 customers. The delivery service, founded in Chicago in 1989, moved to San Francisco in the fall of 1993. Craig Logan, Peapod's regional director, said many of Peapod's customers are families with young children or people who are too busy to go shopping. People with disabilities who have a hard time getting to a grocery store also use the service, he said.

Anecito uses her computer to shop either down the aisles of the store or by brand or category. She has access to a product's name, price and size. An asterisk shows up on screen to indicate products that are currently on sale at a reduced price. Logan said it's easier for customers to search for an asterisk on a computer screen than to scan the aisles in a store for "shelf talkers"--or little cards--announcing a sale.

Peapod updates its database on a regular basis in order to keep pace with Safeway's ever-changing inventory, which typically contains more than 20,000 items.

"Retail stores can change products weekly," Logan said. "We do our best to stay on top of products. Customers can use coupons. The amount is deducted from the next order."

Peapod delivers orders to customers Tuesday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Customers place Peapod orders by computer, phone or fax. Peapod accepts checks and credit or ATM cards. For customers without a computer, Peapod provides a comprehensive paper catalog that lists products available.

Brewster said Peapod guarantees all its orders. "If a mistake happens, we will fix it," she said. "We don't mind if it's our fault or the customer's."

Logan said customers can accidentally ask for 200 of something instead of two.

"We try to call and check with them in those cases," he said.

Upon customer request, Peapod shoppers can substitute a different product, if a desired brand is out of stock. Brewster said shoppers look for something close in size and price. Customers can either keep the product or reject it, if they aren't happy with the choice.

"If a customer orders diapers, we'll be sure to bring them some kind of diapers because we know their baby needs them," Logan said. "Otherwise, they'll just have to go back to the store and that would defeat the purpose."

Kate Froeberg, a veterinarian who lives in Cupertino, said there are so many other personal shopping services for people who work and try to do the family balancing act that Peapod is "worth its weight in gold."

"It prevents me from having to make an additional stop or a separate trip to grocery shop," she said. "I can shop at odd times when I normally couldn't leave home, like when the baby takes a nap. The last thing I want to do after a long day at work is go shopping."

She said it took her some time initially to set up her personal list, but now she can shop in less than a half-hour. Groceries show up either four hours after she orders or in two days--depending on the delivery time she selects."I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever," she said.

She said she uses a personal list because she usually buys some of the same items--two salmon steaks, toilet paper, instant breakfast, yogurt.

"You don't forget stuff. You just check the boxes," she said.

Peapod, which delivers to Saratoga from the Camden Avenue Safeway, can be reached at (415) 357-160 or at http://www.peapod.com. The service costs $4.95 monthly for a membership fee, plus $6.95 and 5 percent of the total bill each time Peapod does the shopping.