SEATTLE – The online grocery delivery model has had some fits and starts (remember Webvan from the late 1990s?) but now it appears that Americans are more than ready to embrace ordering chicken and apples at the click of a mouse. Fox Business News reports that sales from online grocery sites are forecast to reach $13 billion this year—a more than 16% jump, according to IBIS World research.

Fueling the growth is the significant increase in wireless devices and fiber and broadband Internet connections, as well as speedier delivery options. “Place a grocery order by 10 am and get items by dinner, or order by 10 pm and get items by breakfast,” said Nell Rona, spokesperson for Amazon.com, about the company’s grocery delivery options. That immediacy has sparked renewed interest in online delivery of grocery items.

Now consumers have a plethora of options when it comes to ordering online and having the items arrive at their front door. Walmart has expanded its online grocery service to five U.S. areas, while Instacart has partnered with Target, Whole Foods Market, Costco and Petco.

Some online grocery delivery companies rely on current supply chains to provide the goods customers want. “The customer just chooses the store that they'd like to order from,” said April Conyers, spokesperson for Postmates. “Once submitted, a Postmates will go to the store that was requested and pick up the items on the list.”

Still hanging in there is Peapod, which started in 1989. “We operated using a dial-up modem and a DOS software designed by our co-founder, and by filling a grocery order by hand in a local grocery store and then delivering that order to a customer’s doorstep,” said Carrie Bienkowski, chief marketing officer at Peapod.

What’s clear is that online grocery delivery is here to stay. Read more about store-to-door delivery in the September issue of NACS Magazine.