HOME SHOPPING DELIVERING FOR SUPERVALU SHOP 'N SAVE

DENISE ZIMMERMAN

PITTSBURGH -- A new home shopping and delivery initiative launched here by the Shop 'n Save division of Supervalu, Minneapolis, is winning repeat customers and generating higher-than-expected orders in perishables.

Those are among the preliminary results for the Shop From Home program introduced two months ago, according to Ed Fee, Shop 'n Save Group area marketing director for Supervalu's Northeast Regional Division, New Stanton, Pa.

"The surprising thing to us is the amount of perishables product that the consumer buys" for home delivery, Fee told SN. "We felt from the beginning that Mrs. Smith would be reluctant to buy heavy on perishables such as meat, produce and deli. That has not been the case."

Although Fee declined to reveal specifics about orders per week or average order size reported weekly by stores, he did say, "It's going better than expected. We're beating our projections."

One retailer told SN that orders placed through the Shop From Home program averaged $100 at his store and include a "surprising" amount of perishables. He said the four employees assigned to assemble orders in his store, which is one of 15 fulfillment centers, spend extra time selecting perishables.

"We're trying hard to take care of these customers and we're picking the best of the best as far as meat cuts, produce and other perishable type items. The people using this service know they are getting quality products" and that is driving word-of-mouth referrals and repeat customers, he said.

Victor Wukits, owner of nine Shop 'n Save stores supplied by Supervalu, agreed that customer referrals are building the home shopping program and that perishables constitute a large portion of each order. Orders coming through his store tend to range between $80 and $100, he said, noting that order sizes may vary widely among retailers participating in the program.

"You have to look at the broad picture," he said, adding that it's difficult to estimate the average number of Shop From Home orders placed weekly because customer bases differ so greatly.

Three or four orders per week is typical for one retailer, who told SN his store was in a "depressed" area, while other retailers might experience greater volume. "There's a couple out there just going gangbusters" with home shopping orders, Wukits said.

Shop From Home orders placed by telephone, fax or personal computer are processed and delivered by Shopping Alternatives, Bethesda, Md. PC shoppers can collect software diskettes in stores or download it from the Shop 'n Save home page on the World Wide Web (http://www.shopsave.com).

Orders may be placed seven days a week, but delivered only on weekdays during two time slots: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The service fee is $9.95 for telephone orders and $8.95 for PC and faxed orders.

Supervalu's Fee said he expects continued growth in the program and better volume in the fall.

"We anticipated we'd have a relatively slow startup because the summertime is not the best time to kick off a home shopping program due to the [outdoor] activity of consumers during the summer months," he said. "However, we started out relatively strong and it's grown consistently -- not rapidly -- and going forward, each week is better than the previous week."

The Shop From Home service is available to Shop 'n Save customers in the Pittsburgh metro area encompassing Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties.