I ordered and found that the items I purchased were very SMALL. I didn't apprently check the SIZES. I paid a lot more for what I received then I would have at my local grocery or Walmart.

Many of the specialty grocers and even some large chain ones in the larger suburbs of the Twin Cities where I lived just 5 years ago had either online and call-in ordering with home delivery or pickup. One smaller chain I forget the name, had lists of their products printed out and you could pick them up or have them mailed to you and you would fill it out like a checklist and drop it off or mail it back and it would be delivered on whatever time and day you wrote down. It was inevitable the home shopping trend would become more popular, I'm actually surprised it took this long for Walmart and others to figure it out. Both Alice and Walmart sites are great for people who want to avoid the rat race altogether or just need something they forgot in between shopping dates without having to go back for those few items. Although, just like the internet itself, this shopping from home trend is just more anti-social behavior that is becoming the norm, whether that's good or bad is all opinion.

I agree with Jim below, although Clark is correct in saying items like clothes, electronics and mostly non-necessity products are cheaper now than from a year ago, true necessary items such as most foods and certain medications, particularly non-prescription products, are rising in price. Overall though items are noticeably lower in price, unfortunately, it's for all the wrong reasons. And today here in cheeseland, the price of gas now is higher than it was last year at this time.

I have place orders with Alice.com twice. The first time, I felt the prices were better than the local stores, and better than Costco on some items. Second order, I didn't get the same warm fuzzy feeling. But, I like the convenience of having stuff delivered to my door. The grocery selection is limited to items that are light in weight and ship inexpensively.

Alice is a pretty big hit or miss. Most of their prices are well above local retail prices, and their coupon may or may not much sale prices.