Case Study: Marsh Supermarkets
Unlike many "online grocers" who failed, Marsh used the medium to support its brick-and-mortar operations (its entire income did not depend on the success of online sales).
This site offers in-home delivery of grocery items, as well as giving customers the ability to submit orders electronically for store pick-up (pull up to the curb, show your receipt, and pop the trunk). Customers could also use the site to develop hard-copy shopping lists to print and come by the store and do their own shopping.
Because grocery is a business of reorders, they are able to use customers' order history to populate their shopping cart with items they typically reorder on a regular basis, and use e-mail marketing effectively to remind customers to restock.
The site augmented service by providing menus and cooking instructions. A customer can select a menu, indicate the number of diners, and order everything they need very easily. Customers who prefer to come to the store can easily print out a shopping list instead.
EN: These case studies went into granular detail, often about entirely unremarkable practices. I have documented only the unique or unusual details.