Price Chopper says it's rolling out an online shopping service called "Shops4U" next week at its Niskayuna store. From the press release:

To access Shops4U, Price Chopper customers simply go to the online ordering tab on www.pricechopper.com and pull down the menu for Shops4U. Once they register, customers can pick and choose from among tens of thousands of food items carried in their local Price Chopper store. Orders can be picked up at the store or delivered to homes, offices or community gathering spaces in the Niskayuna area.

In addition to the online component, Shops4U also allows customers to interact with specially trained Price Chopper teammates who will go through the store to select the best in fresh meat, produce and seafood, along with bakery and packaged grocery items. When a customer places an order online, the pick-up time is indicated. The order will be selected and ready at that time for pick up. The customer need only drive up to the designated pick-up parking spots in front of the Niskayuna store and call the phone number indicated on the sign there. The grocery order will be brought out to the car, where the guest can pay by credit card and drive off, without ever having to leave the car.

Delivery orders will be brought to the home, business or community gathering space by Price Chopper's professional delivery staff within a designated time period.

The service costs $10, plus another $5.99 for delivery (with a discount for the first order, and every fifth order after that). The full press release is pasted after the jump.

The company says it plans to eventually extend the service to all of its stores.

In what is almost surely not a coincidence, Shops4U is rolling out just before the planned grand opening of the new ShopRite in Niskayuna on October 2. And what's one of the services ShopRite's been touting: "ShopRite from Home," an order ahead and delivery service.

We're not buzzing with excitement over ShopRite coming (back) to the Capital Region -- but if it can prompt competition with the players already here (especially on price), that's not a bad thing.

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Price Chopper press release:

PRICE CHOPPER UNVEILS NEW ONLINE ORDERING

AND HOME DELIVERY SYSTEM

Niskayuna 'Shops4U' Kick-off Will Lead to Other Locations

(NISKAYUNA, N.Y.) -- Shopping at Price Chopper - and having access to all of the store's discounts and signature items, as well as fresh meat, produce and seafood - just got even easier.

Beginning next week, Price Chopper Shops4U, a service designed to provide customers with a way to shop online for thousands of products, have those products selected by trained Price Chopper teammates and then pick them up at the store or have them delivered directly to their homes, will debut in the chain's Niskayuna store (442 Balltown Road).

"We created Price Chopper Shops4U in response to the call for a convenient shopping experience made by a growing number of our customers who are either too busy or unable to get to their local Price Chopper to shop for what they need," said Jerry Golub, Price Chopper's president and chief operating officer. "While we have plans to roll the program out in many more of our 128 stores, we're pleased to be the first to market this service and our new digital coupon program, AdvantEdge e-Coupons, here in our hometown, the Capital Region."

To access Shops4U, Price Chopper customers simply go to the online ordering tab on www.pricechopper.com and pull down the menu for Shops4U. Once they register, customers can pick and choose from among tens of thousands of food items carried in their local Price Chopper store. Orders can be picked up at the store or delivered to homes, offices or community gathering spaces in the Niskayuna area.

In addition to the online component, Shops4U also allows customers to interact with specially trained Price Chopper teammates who will go through the store to select the best in fresh meat, produce and seafood, along with bakery and packaged grocery items. When a customer places an order online, the pick-up time is indicated. The order will be selected and ready at that time for pick up. The customer need only drive up to the designated pick-up parking spots in front of the Niskayuna store and call the phone number indicated on the sign there. The grocery order will be brought out to the car, where the guest can pay by credit card and drive off, without ever having to leave the car.

Delivery orders will be brought to the home, business or community gathering space by Price Chopper's professional delivery staff within a designated time period.

The service fee for Price Chopper Shops4U is $10, with an additional $5.99 fee for delivery. For the customer's first order, this service fee will be discounted 50%, as it will for every fifth order. To make shopping even easier, once a customer has used Shops4U, he or she can refer back to previous shopping lists to place the next order even faster and more efficiently. Before each order is finalized, a personal Shops4U shopper will call or email the customer to verify the total cost and to finalize the purchase.

Recognizing the importance that value plays in the shopping equation, Price Chopper's Shops4U service ensures that customers will be able to take full advantage of all coupons, special price offers and Price Chopper's exclusive AdvantEdge and Fuel AdvantEdge offers.

"We are confident that Shops4U will complement our traditional shopping experience in Niskayuna, especially for busy families and seniors," said Jon Strom, Price Chopper's VP of Business Development. "Not only will our customers get the best in fresh produce, signature items and traditional groceries, along with Price Chopper's unparalleled value programs, they will also get the convenience of shopping online."

Price Chopper's AdvantEdge e-Coupons program offers the value of coupon savings without the printing and clipping. They are digital coupon offers that can be selected electronically by customers and loaded directly to their Price Chopper AdvantEdge Card. Even though the program launch won't be publicized until September 18, several thousand customers have already registered and begun to use the free service since noticing it on the coupon tab at www.pricechopper.com.