Priceline.com Ceases Bidding on Groceries

In "Name That Price on Priceline.com!" in TidBITS 499, we wrote about a good experience (not since repeated) with purchasing airline tickets through Priceline.com’s auction approach. We also looked at Priceline.com’s WebHouse Club program for buying groceries and gasoline through a similar method of bidding on low price. Though we have been extremely positive about the utility of shopping for groceries online through firms like HomeGrocer.com (now owned by Webvan), the WebHouse Club program made no sense at all to us. Now, after less than a year of operation, Priceline.com is closing down the WebHouse Club program (though none of the company’s other services). The moral of the story? Different goods require different business models, whether or not the Internet is involved.