I told you so. In our Green Sheet seminars last year, I predicted virtual food shopping by early 1999, and now it's here. BA Merchant Services Inc., (subsidiary of BankAmerica Corp.) and its technology partner I-Way Corp., are hoping they can convince you that it's just as easy to buy a dozen eggs on the Web as it is to purchase the latest selection from Oprah's book club. (Do you think virtual food purchases will be low-cal?)
If you're like most consumers, there are some items you would consider purchasing or maybe even have already purchased online, such as books, music, or software. Other items, such as clothes or food are a little harder to imagine.
I-Way and BA Merchant Services have implemented an Internet commerce site for Furr's Supermarkets Inc., a 70-store chain based in Albuquerque, N.M. The site will sell all products normally sold in the traditional Furr's Supermarket, including perishables, and will deliver them or have them ready for pick up.
A lot of the consumer resistance to purchasing groceries online is that they don't want to give up the chance to smell the oranges or squeeze the Charmin. I-Way and BA realize that consumers don't want their local groceries replaced by online stores but rather augmented by online stores. "The key to our Online store technology is integrating tightly to existing supermarket systems," said David Isaacs, president of I-Way. "Our systems enhance our customers' marketplace, not compete with it as others seek to do."
You may be a Doubting Thomas but, according to Price Waterhouse, ten percent, or $40 billion, in retail grocery sales will be processed electronically by 2005. Now, think about the future of all retailing. Will there be a virtual element to most every business in the future? Do you have a payment solution for each virtual shopping need?
When we consider the amount of grocery sales that are paid by check, maybe you should be looking into CrossCheck, Inc.'s ChecksByNet or CheckNow patent pending product for Internet and MOTO checks. With physical checks printed anywhere in the world, seconds after the phone or Internet order, maybe it will be the squeezing the Charmin that will be extinct rather than checks.
Need more information? BA Merchant Services Inc., can be contacted at (415) 241-3390. I-Way can be contacted at (949) 553-1172. CrossCheck Inc., can be contacted at (800) 654-2365.
