TABLE 2.

Perceived advantages and disadvantages of online grocery shopping among WIC (n = 7) participants before and after online shopping¹

Participant	Perceived advantages before	Perceived advantages after	Perceived disadvantages before	Perceived disadvantages after
1	Reduce impulse purchases: “It would probably cut down on the excessive stuff. It might be cheaper because you're just sticking to what you need and you're not being drawn into those sales and ending up with a whole bunch of stuff you don't need. Like 20 things of toothpaste because I have a coupon.”	None noted.	More difficult to spot deals online versus in store: “Well, I'm thinking, would it be, would the online stuff … oh, another thing I like to do is, is I like to find the mark down section at the grocery store .… And see I might just look. I go there every time. So, with online I might not be able to see the markdown.”	More difficult to spot deals online versus in store: “And then you get the, sometimes the deals with the meats that are marked down … And you wouldn't necessarily see that.”
2	Saves time: “Avoiding the lines … it saves time …. you don't have to … worry about having the stroller, putting the baby in the car and then going up and down the aisle, you just go sit in front the computer or smartphone, just click, click …somebody else does the work for you.”	Easy/convenient: “If, you need something from the grocery store … Like my daughter, she's little, and if I wanted to go grocery shopping I wouldn't have to really take her out of the car, I could just, you know, just  pull up and get my groceries.”	Poor product quality/distrust of personal shopper: “somebody might not pick out the, the, um, best looking item … when you say you might want bananas, they might pick you out them um … the real ripe ones instead of picking out the greener ones so they'll last longer.”	Problems with the website: “You just have to know the categories in which the items you're looking for are located. Because when I did my online shopping, … I just didn't really know where to look for them at.” Enjoys going into the store: “Really cool seeing people.” [doesn't get to see them when shopping online]
3	Easy/convenient: I guess you get to mainly, like, relax and stuff, not having to actually go down aisle by aisle, just relax or something. You know, focus on, you know, the screen and put down what you want in your little cart …. So you can pretty much just relax instead of doing all that walking.	Easy/convenient: “I guess with the online shopping you don't have to wait like instead of having to wait for a line and waiting for your turn to come up next, you have a time to come and stuff's already ready. I like that. It's so chaotic, so much traffic in here [the store]”	Having to wait to pick up items: “the wait, and going to get it. I like just having it right there when I pay for it.”Missing or incorrect items: “Um, maybe they don't have the brand that you want, or you may get the wrong things off of it ….”	Having to wait to pick up items: “You get your stuff right then and there [in the store] instead of having to select a time.”Store employees are not available online to help with questions: “like online, if you have a question or anything or you're lost, you can't really get help … But, in here they got people by the cash register, and they are able to help you out with your every need.”
4	Convenient for those who have physical limitations: “My perception has always … this is for like maybe elderly people or people who are sick and can't necessarily get out the car and walk around the grocery store or maybe somebody that has a new baby.”Easy/convenient: “…it's easier. You just stay in your car, you pull up, and they load everything that you had on your list into your car. It's definitely very easy, very convenient.”	Easy/convenient: “… it was convenient, where you know, like assuming I was doing it at home, I can just click through at my own leisure and you can put your stuff in the cart and almost like due like a virtual grocery list. I can leave it and come back to it if I wasn't gonna place that order for pick-up today…. It was really easy to be honest with you. I didn't even … I've never done before and I didn't expect it to be that easy.”	Associated fees: “And, I know that there is a fee with it, so you know I'm all about saving money so why would I pay when I can just go down and pick out my own things.”Poor product quality: “… maybe if I get a bad batch of strawberries … so maybe the person picked out one that wasn't as fresh as I would have liked for it to be. … if you had a list and they forgot one of your items.” Higher prices online: “’cause I feel like they're more expensive online.”	Enjoys going into the store: “I like coming in the store ’cause you can find deals, you know, in-store … It's that you might miss out on some deals that otherwise, if you hadn't come in the store … ”Having to plan day around picking up groceries: “So, you'd have to definitely plan it so that it would be like your last stop before going home. Which you might do that anyway, if you were coming to buy groceries that were like refrigerated anyway.”
5	Easy/convenient: “it seems like a really good idea to avoid pester power or just to simplify a trip a whole lot. ”Could see deals more easily online: “Could see the deals more easily.”Saves time: “a big time-saver”	Easy/convenient: “Scheduling and convenience … Timing, like being able to just do it and pick a time to pick it up…” Saves time: “guess a disadvantage is it seems to take more time in the store. …I don't know. At home, we could be doing other things at the same time.”	Having to plan day around picking up groceries: “Coordinating the timing so that frozen stuff is still frozen.” Associated fees: “the convenience fee.”Seeing items/deals in the store: “A lot of times we will remember things as we walk buy and see them…just noticing things that are on sale by walking around. Don't know if they have the clearance rack as well posted… online…”	Seeing items/deals in the store: “easier to see the deals .… easier to remember things we might want [in the store] …. ”Poor product quality: “like we wouldn't have bought the bananas or the oranges online. … ’cause we wanna come out and find the fresh ones. Same with bread …. not being able to pick your own produce, um, like they would just pick out whatever.”
6	Saves time and potential for discounts: “Advantage is time. You know it saves on time …. I probably would think that they offer some type of discount, maybe, for you shopping online.”	Saves time: “So, that saves time the workers know where everything is .… because they can get to the stuff a lot quicker than we can …. The time saver and, you know, … Make your grocery list and, then, send it	Poor product quality: “’cause will they look at the dates like I look at the dates, are they feelin’ the bread like I feel the bread? .. Yeah, ’cause I'm like, well with the eggs, are they gonna open the eggs and	Missing or receiving the wrong items: “That's a disadvantage because when you're in the store yourself you know you can go ahead and pick your product, the one that you're gonna replace it with .…”
		out. And, by the time you get off of work, they'll pick out your food. And, that would work great for single parents or parents who have a really busy life .…” Easy/convenient: “online, you don't actually have to do the foot work. You don't have to walk around the store. They'll bring it out to you. They'll even load you up. You just sit there in your car ….”	make sure all of them are not broke?” Difficult to compare prices: “I look for my prices per unit when I get the meat then compare the size of the package, but now I don't have the size right here. I have to go by reading very carefully.” Seeing items/deals in the store: “I'm used to being hands-on. I could pick it up compare the ounces and look at the price.”	Poor product quality: “I like looking at the meat and turning it over and looking at the expiration date. I'm not sure if the workers pay that much attention to detail when they're shopping for others, ’cause they've got a big list and maybe more than one order and just moving as fast as they can ….” Higher prices online: “’cause in the flyer they don't put all the sales in there. Sometimes you have to come to the store and look for the sales.”
7	Convenient: “… I would think that that would be the only thing, like convenience.” Easier: “But, essentially, I like how easy it is though, like if you find it on the flyer and you want it, you click on it and it's gonna pop up with all the stuff that qualifies for it.”	Easy/convenient: “The advantage of online is convenience factor so you don't have to personally come in and do it .… So, an advantage of in the middle of your shopping trip if something comes up you can go attend to it and come back to shopping and continue where you left off …. Being able to put notes for your personal shopper.”	Poor product quality: “… I don't know how it works if you order an item and then it's out of stock. Like what happens then? … Not being able to smell my fruits and vegetables so I get a nice, ripe one. I don't know if the person they got personal shopping knows what they're picking out. It's like I have to trust somebody else's judgement of my fruit and I'm picky about my fruit.” Associated fees: “I was like, ‘It's gotta have a fee. Uh, I'll do it myself.’ So, like it wasn't, to me, a worth it type situation.” Problems with the website: “then if the internet is running slowly or you try to pull something up and it's not there.”	Higher prices online: “Another disadvantage though was the not being able to like if you don't pick it up that day, you don't get the deal that you saw online …” Missing or receiving the wrong items: “not everything is available online, so it's a disadvantage too. Like we couldn't find that bakery bread online.”

¹WIC, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.