The difference now is that people are using the Internet to buy their groceries. This use of technology to return to the past is catching on with consumers to such a degree that more and more of the major supermarkets in the state have begun Web sites.
Many stores offer online coupons that can be printed out for in-store use.
And it's not just the big stores that are going online. Its site allows people to bid on the price they want to pay for groceries, which they then get from existing supermarkets. Mr. Sansoni said. Both online and traditional food stores have razor-thin profit margins and must sell huge volumes to turn profits, he explained. Start-up and delivery costs alone can be astronomical.