Having heard a thing or two about the "convenience" of shopping online for groceries, I decided I might as well give Safeway.com a try. Considering I shop online for miscellaneous items like clothing, gadgets, video games, or anything else non-consumable, why not order produce, eggs, cheese, or Oreo’s? Amazon’s announcement of AmazonFresh (direct competition with mainstream grocery stores for "fresh produce" who have gone online) is proof that ordering vegetables, dairy, alcohol, and Toaster Strudel’s should be no different from a Logitech mouse, Banana Republic sweater, or custom tailored suit from Indochino (a detailed review to come).

AmazonFresh in its current state is a closed beta for the Greater Seattle area. Until the site goes live, online shoppers can check out the existing Amazon Grocery store for regular shelf items. Until the online giant opens the doors to AmazonFresh, shoppers can make use of any number of grocery store services that have gone online [in your area]: Safeway, Pink Dot, Albertons, or any one of the stores listed here.

Shopping for groceries is not the same as shopping for…

Contrary to what you may believe, shopping for groceries online is not the same as shopping for an iPod, a new computer, or cellphone. YMMV. Recommendations, related items, the overall web interface for product presentation is just not here yet. Widespread adoption of online stores is dependent on improving the ease and simplicity of shopping for groceries online.

Last night, I spent 50 minutes shopping for groceries online when an actual trip to the store would have taken 35 minutes [including the commute]. Get in, grab exactly what you want, and get out. Although I knew exactly what I wanted, it was a challenge to find everything online. Browsing store aisles is much easier than browsing small thumbnails in your browser – clicking on items, squinting, hoping that what you’ve selected is what you intended to purchase. Even then, an option during checkout requests permission to replace unavailable items with similar products [if necessary].

Despite having everything within a few mouse-clicks, Syl insisted that I not order produce – preferring to make the trip herself to pick-up and inspect vegetables at the market. It is difficult to believe that your produce will be the freshest, unbruised, or the ripest choice of the pick upon delivery.

Due to the fact that Sprint would require an actual long-term contract, we decided to check out Clearwire which offers month-to-month service. Clearwire launched with the intent of providing nationwide Wi-Max broadband access to the masses. Since 2004, Clearwire has added a handful of major metropolitan cities to its service coverage map.

The convenience of online shopping, right?

In todays internet age, I find it more convenient and efficient to utilize online resources to make purchases. Purchasing service through http://clearwire.com should be no different from completing an order through http://sprint.com, http://cingular.com, or http://comcast.com. Unfortunately, a recent scenario proved that shopping online can still feel very alien.

Welcome to clearwire.com

Immediately, we visit http://clearwire.com. We are greeted with a general landing page with a clear-cut navigation, an invitation to "Save up to $100 when you order online today" (Bingo!), three service option summaries, a quick "Get pricing and service availability", and an invitation for "Live chat".

How much and is it available in the neighborhood?

We’re both informed, we know what Clearwire is all about, and we understand that Wi-Max coverage is still being rolled out. Let’s fast forward, check coverage availability, and enter the address where service will be used. Visitors have a convenient form for entering a street address, zip code, and floor. Floor?

I know Clearwire means to convey a message along the lines of "How many floors are in the home or building where the service will be used? This is important because your connection quality relies heavily on the modems ability to acquire a strong signal. Physical structures may prevent the modem from receiving the strongest signal possible.", but how would the average Joe looking to leave Comcast interpret the option?

Let’s assume that everyone understands that the option refers to the number of floors in the building where service will be used. Let’s also assume that service at the address is available but that I live on the 2nd floor of a 4 floor complex. Would I enter option 2 since I live on the second floor? Or, do I enter 4 because I live in a complex with 4 floors? What If I lived on the ground floor of an 8 floor apartment? If this extensive of a preliminary inquiry is required, users might as well be asked to enter whether or not they live in a brick, all steal, concrete, or wood structure. There are no directions or hints explaining why "floor" is so important. [No reference in the FAQ] Sprint or Verizon don’t ask whether I’ll be sitting in a garage, lounging at home, or walking outside during service usage.

Experimenting with a number of different scenarios, the resulting page which expresses whether coverage is available mentions nothing about what affect the floor may have on your service.

Our first few attempts checking coverage availability resulted with the above image. Because of this initial hurdle, we were unable to find out how much the service would be on a month-to-month basis. As potential customers, it would be much easier to see a quick overview of the pricing tiers – for comparison with other services – before having to enter any type of personal information.

I’m having issues ordering, can I talk to a sales rep?

After realizing that little progress was going to be made as far as ordering service online was concerned, we resorted to contacting a sales or support representative. At the time of posting, the Live Chat graphical links redirected to an email form with the prompt that no representatives were available. With that in mind, we located a telephone number at the top right corner of the page next to Store Locater. The number reads 1-888-Clearwire – C-L-E-A-R-W-I-R-E = 9 characters which when added to 1-888 would equal 13. Your standard telephone number is comprised of 10 – this might throw a few people off.

1-888-Clearwire = 1-888-253-2794-73 which does not equal the 1-888-253-2794 shown in FAQ. Regardless, we dial and listen to the available prompts for opening new service. Calling from both a 206 & 425 area code numbers (which area clearly major metropolitan areas in Seattle / Bellevue), we both received the following (20 sec. recording). Not exactly the answer we’re looking for when the coverage map clearly covers our area(s).

Disclaimer

It is important to note that this entry was published after initial attempts of checking coverage availability and ordering service online failed. At the time, Clearwire coverage availability was reporting that the address entered was outside of the coverage area. Subsequent inquires later in the day oddly reported that the address was indeed within the service coverage area. The experience shopping online does not reflect the quality of the actual internet service – I am more than happy to and look forward to comparing Clearwire to Sprints solid EVDO network which I use daily with both a Novatel U720 (external USB) & Vaio VGN-TXN15P (bult-in)..