By Michael Hammond
Area residents have a new point-and-click option for buying their groceries and it isn’t in Centretown.
Francois Bouchard, owner of the Country Grocer near Mooney’s Bay, became a pioneer last September when his store became Ottawa’s first online grocery store, launching a site at www.theCountryGrocer.com.
The Country Grocer isn’t alone. There are also two online grocery services in Ottawa, although neither one is directly tied with an actual store.
An online service, Telegrocer, is now working with the Loblaw’s store in the Elmvale Shopping Centre and another service, the Online Grocer, has been working with wholesale food distributers since last January.
Bouchard says he does business in Centretown, particularly near Bronson Avenue and Elgin Street.
Even though the online sales account for less than 10 per cent of his business, Bouchard says he’s seen steady growth.
“It grows every week,” he says. “Every week we get new customers.”
Ernest Goldstein, owner of Goldstein’s Food Market on Elgin Street, says he’s not interested in taking his business online yet.
Goldstein says his store’s COD service is similar to Bouchard’s online service.
He says many seniors in the downtown area call in their orders to his store already.
Goldstein says he has some problems with taking his store online because customers won’t be able to ask store staff questions when they’re not sure what they want.
“I think a lot of people will be frustrated with online shopping,” he says.
Goldstein also says taking his store online wouldn’t be productive because most of his phone orders are from seniors.
“We have a very nice COD business with seniors downtown,” he says. “And most of them don’t know how to use a computer.”
Goldstein also says offering groceries online might be a waste of time for his store, because he expects the Loeb or Loblaws chain to offer online services in the near future.
But Annie Langlois, communications director for Loeb Canada, says the chain isn’t planning to launch online services anytime soon. Loeb has a store in the area on Booth Street.
The Country Grocer is part of the PeachTree Network, a Montreal-based company which teamed up with grocery stores across Canada and the U.S. to offer online grocery services. Cities such as Toronto, Edmonton and St. John’s all have grocery stores belonging to the network.
The company recently issued stocks for $3.50 in their initial public offering. Bouchard says he expects the company will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange soon.
The PeachTree Network approached Bouchard with the idea of an online business over two years ago.
When the service was launched, only the most popular items were available online. Since then, thousands of items have been added.
The store charges $10 for delivery outside the K1V postal code area and delivers as far as Kanata, Orleans and Barrhaven.
So far, Bouchard says his online sales are below the industry standard of five to 10 per cent of total sales.
“We’re not there yet,” he says. “But we’ve only been at it six months.”