COUPONS AVAILABLE VIA MODEM.

Byline: Dawn Yoshitake Daily News Staff Writer

Coupon clippers looking to snare a discount at California supermarkets can arm themselves with another set of tools starting Thursday: a computer and a mouse.

Supermarkets Online will formally launch its World Wide Web site, featuring coupons from supermarkets and manufacturers, weekly grocery store sales, recipes and electronic shopping lists.

The supermarket site, (http://www.supermarkets.com), is one of the first to offer free grocery coupons to download and print off the computer.

Other sites offer grocery coupon books for sale and coupons for trading, and some sites feature coupons for nongrocery related items. And, of course, a smattering of food manufacturers offer their own coupons from their Web sites.

``We wanted to develop a single place where consumers could go for grocery coupons. That's what they want,'' said David Rochon, Supermarkets Online president. ``They don't want to go from site to site to collect coupons.''

Supermarkets Online, a Florida-based division of supermarket coupon marketing firm Catalina Marketing Corp., began testing the concept in April with supermarkets in San Diego and San Jose.

Budget conscious shoppers tapping into the site will enter their ZIP code. Four icons will appear, giving shoppers a choice of manufacturers coupons, rebates and sweepstakes, supermarket coupons and weekly specials, recipes and an electronic grocery list.

The selection of coupons is only a fraction of what can be found in newspapers, magazines or direct mailers. Coupons can be redeemed only at supermarkets participating in the program.

``The manufacturers are also using the site to ask customers their likes and dislikes and mailing sample products to people who respond to the questionnaire,'' Rochon said.

The recipe center offers advice from television chef Burt Wolf to wine recommendations from the Mondavi winery.

As shoppers select coupons and recipes from the site, the items and ingredients needed to fulfill those selections will be added to an electronic shopping list and downloaded to the printer. Additional items can be added to the electronic list from a number of predetermined categories, such as frozen foods. Under the frozen section, items ranging from burritos to waffles can be checked off.

One concern is who uses the Internet.

``I know it's predominantly men on the Internet and it's predominantly women who do the household shopping,'' Rochon said. ``But since we started planning this project, the number of women on the Internet has increased from 20 percent to about 30 percent.''

Harry Fenik, analyst with Zona Research Inc. in Redwood City, said Supermarket Online likely won't lead to a number of women rushing to buy a computer, but it may prompt some women to jump onto the Internet if their household already has a computer.

Mary McAboy, a spokeswoman for Arcadia-based Vons Cos., said the company realizes the Internet will attract a different slice of its customer base, compared to other forms of media.

``We see this as a way to get to another segment of our customers,'' McAboy said. ``And the challenge to Vons is to provide the proper service to these customers.''

Supermarket Online has attracted 11 supermarket chains in California, including Ralphs and Luckys.

Vons' upscale Pavilions grocery chain is offering coupons on some of its precooked meals for shoppers tapping into the Supermarket Online site.

Supermarket Online has an advantage over competitors because its parent company has a 14-year relationship with the supermarket industry.

``We talked with the supermarkets up until February, but they all said they were doing their first deal with Supermarkets Online,'' said Michael Golino, chief executive San Diego-based Web consultant O'mai Group Inc. and developer of ClipNet.

ClipNet, a coupon Web site developed nine months ago, is going off line until it achieves its critical mass to operate, possibly in September.

Simon Higgs, president of Van Nuys-based CouponNet, said security concerns are hampering his company's growth. CouponNet, a division of Higgs America Inc., went on line a year ago, but has few coupons for its numerous categories.

The company, which plans to later add grocery coupons to its offering, has a couple of discounts for computers and business services.

``We've taken care of a lot of the technical issues, but a lot of companies aren't ready yet to do this,'' he said.

Supermarket Online prints the shopper's name and household identification number on each coupon to reduce the possibility of multiple copies. Users who abuse the system may be blocked from future downloading.

``It's not profitable for us now, but we're hoping to take a leadership role in this business,'' Rochon said.

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Photo

Photo: (Color) Shoppers browse on line, then print couponsfor items they want to buy, on Supermarkets Online World Wide Web site.