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After a hesitant start and some high-profile failures, particularly in the United States, online shopping for groceries is becoming ever more popular and, for those retailers who do it well, profitable. The Swiss magazine, Le Matin, has taken a look at one such operation - LeShop, operated in conjunction with Switzerland's leading supermarket chain, Migros - and tracked how "virtual" shopping actually works in the real world.

After a shaky December 2002, Le Matin says, and a spectacular 'boom' in January when it unveiled its alliance with Migros, LeShop is currently enjoying a satisfying increase in sales. More and more housewives are opting to do their weekly shop online, yet many potential buyers are still held back by preconceived ideas.

6pm, offices of Le Matin, Lausanne

Agnes, a secretary at Le Matin and a client of LeShop for some months now, sends off her order. A working mother, Agnes finds that the ability to avoid going to the supermarket to do her weekly shopping frees up both time and energy. "I even spend less", she says, "because I'm more in control of what I buy."

For the test, Agnes has chosen horse meat, fresh bread and fruit and vegetables which are known to be delicate: straeberries, tomatoes and apples. She sends her order before leavig the office.

4.45am, Stierli butcher shop, in Bremgarten

In the rustic surroundings of the village of Bremgarten, in which most people are still asleep, the local butcher, Urs Stierli, arranges his sharpened knives and sets about cutting the steaks ordered by Agnes, in addition to others included on the list faxed to him by LeShop at midnight. Without these orders, he would doubtless have closed his shop long ago, as did his erstwhile counterparts. By way of LeShop, on the other hand, he has even been able to take on a new employee.

Not that this client is easy to please...   saltimbocca all romana, steaks with prunes (especially favoured by the Germans, it seems), brochettes for the barbecue and other specialities drawn from the four corners of the country have been added to his shop window, much to the delight of the village inhabitants. The orders are packed under a vacuum and taken in a refrigerated truck to his main client's depot, a few kilometres down the road.

LeShop uses other suppliers to source its poultry, organic meat and "traceable" meat, the origin and progress of which can be tracked at any time by internet.

5.15am, Brume bakery, in Bremgarten

As dawn approaches, we enter the Brume bakery where the delicious smell of croissants and warm bread quickly envelops us. There is a hive of activity around the ovens as a veritable army of bakers sorts the loaves. The Brume family also supplies bakeries in five villages nearby and LeShop accounts for just one-tenth of its output, but master baker Hugo Pais gives his client maximum attention, regularly adding to his core range of 35 items to satisfy the tastebuds of the "cybergourmet" public. Current online favourites include sunflower and rustic "Paillasse" ("straw") bread, which Agnes has ordered. Every morning, Hugo's ovens pour forth these as well as fruit tarts, "boules de Berlin" ("Berlin doughnuts") and plenty of cakes. On the Friday in question, 507 individual loaves of bread are destined for LeShop clients, of which 89 are "tresses", which will be consumed for breakfast on Sunday.

5.45am, LeShop depot, in Bremgarten

Seen from outside, it looks like a 5,000 square-metre warehouse that has somehohw got lost in the countryside. Inside, its like a beehive as an army of workers, dressed in green, sets about filling hundreds of boxes, also coloured green. This is a discrete, yet very effective operation. We follow the head of production, Elisabeth Breitenstein. Agnes' order is printed out in the form of three lists, each heading for a separate zone of the warehouse: chilled products, heavy articles and 'the rest'.

The cases of drinks and other large-volume items are handled by men with big biceps. Products destined for the refrigerator - dairy items, cheeses, meat, fresh pasta, prawns - are stored and processed in a room whose temperature is kept at one degree centigrade and where workers are well wrapped up. In a neighbouring area, fruit and vegetables are kept at 7 to 8 degrees, as are the potato crisps - not because they need to be cold, but simply so that they are handled with care and not crushed.

Items which are neither large nor fresh are laid out on a long, snaking track. At its beginning, we see those goods most frequently asked for or those which will be put at the bottom of the bag. Each employee has responsibility for a certain number of articles. As the green case passes before them, they check if the list contains "their" products and, if so, put them in before pushing the case to the next worker in the line. When the containers are full or the order is completed, the cases are placed in a central area, where lists are checked and missing articles deducted from the invoice. A label placed on each case details the name and address of the buyers, plus any notes or comments (such as delivery details - "the door will be open, but you've only got 30 seconds before the dog gets to you!". The green cases are ten loaded onto the pallet that corresponds to their destination.

8am, LeShop depot, in Bremgarten

Trucks bearing the colours of LeShop arrive to pick up their respective loads. The transport side of the operation is handled by Von Bergen, which delivers order to the larger postal sorting centres. Our driver, Hazim, passes through Berne before ending his trip in Lausanne. He it is who will transport the three cases corresponding to Agnes' order.

2.15pm, Lausanne postal centre

The truck has just arrived at the Lausanne express postal centre. Hazim unloads the cases. Since January, he says, the quantity has practically doubled. The express delivery vans go out on their rounds in the afternoon. There is a wall of green cases in the warehouse - this Friday, 85 will be sent out tot he regions of Morges, Cossonay, Echallens and the Vallée de Joux. 348 further deliveries are awaited by 83 clients in greater Lausanne.

With around a thousand orders every day and an average three to four cases per client, LeShop provides good business for the transport company, but it's also an excellent client for the express delivery services. In Lausanne and Geneva, LeShop's green cases make up 85% to 90% of afternoon delivery volumes.

6pm, at Agnes' home, in Echandens

The yellow van parks in front of the building. A smiling postman carries the green cases right to Agnes' door, then takes out their contents: a dozen paper bages carrying the logos both of LeShop and of Migros, as well as an aluminium bad containing the fresh products, which have been kept cold by way of a frozen bottle placed inside the bag.

The list is complete. The strawberries and unblemished and ready to eat, the tomatoes and apples too, all well protected inside their packaging. The meat is a healthy pink, the bread crusty. All Agnes has to do is store her shopping in the kitchen and ask one of the men of the house to take a case of mineral water down to the cellar. "Before, I didn't even bother trying to buy it, it's too heavy!!. Tomorrow, with the time she's saved, she could even have a lie in..

And the price?

Prices are generally the same as in the shops, with express delivery costing Sfr. 12.