For the past year, Amy Bauerlein has done her grocery shopping online at Publix Curbside in Citrus Park even though it required a 10-minute drive to pick up her order.
"I don't care about the drive," said the 31-year-old schoolteacher and mother of two. "I'm saving time by avoiding the crowds, not standing in line and not (confronting the temptations of) impulse buying. I save $25 to $50 a week."
Those are not words grocers love to hear. But the sentiment is driving many supermarket chains to realize they misread how online shopping works when they blew hundreds of millions on ill-fated, home delivery 15 years ago.
"It's become clear online food shoppers want to avoid what they don't like about the shopping experience, not the drive to get there," said Greg Buzek, president of IHL Services which tracks retail tech trends.
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