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MANY UNAWARE OF ON-LINE GROCERS

WILTON, Conn. -- Consumers aren't shopping at Internet grocery stores in part because they don't know if they are available where they live, according to a report released by Greenfield Online here.yed, just 31% had visited an on-line grocer and of those, a mere 12% made a purchase. Nearly 60% of the respondents said they are unlikely to make Internet grocery purchases.Awareness is a major impediment,

WILTON, Conn. -- Consumers aren't shopping at Internet grocery stores in part because they don't know if they are available where they live, according to a report released by Greenfield Online here.

yed, just 31% had visited an on-line grocer and of those, a mere 12% made a purchase. Nearly 60% of the respondents said they are unlikely to make Internet grocery purchases.

Awareness is a major impediment, Fusco said, noting that almost half (47%) of respondents did not know whether an on-line grocer served their area, and that 29% said they do not shop for groceries on-line because they don't know which Web sites to visit.

"What we found out is that people just aren't aware who's offering this service," Fusco said.

Customers who visited on-line grocers were attracted by banner ads placed on other Web sites (34%) and by direct e-mail (26%), leading Fusco to believe that other mediums can still be exploited by on-line grocers.

"This suggests that on-line grocers should probably explore off-line vehicles and traditional advertising mediums such as newspapers and television," Fusco said. Customers who did visit Internet grocery sites did so mainly to shop for price (58%), access coupons (30%) and check weekly specials (29%). Of those who bought groceries on-line, nearly half spent less than $50.

NetGrocer, visited by 49% of those who visited Internet grocery sites, was the most popular destination, according to the survey, followed by Egrocer.com and Peapod (22% each) and Priceline.com (13%).