I was team lead for front-end e-commerce development in 2002 when we took the initiative to rewrite and redesign everything from the stored procedures up.

• Created: 2002
• Platform: Active Server Pages, VB6, COM+, Commerce Server

I pitched the idea to our VP who agreed only if we committed to being done in a month. A month! But we were motivated so I agreed. It took some long hours but our team pulled it off.

We restructured the HTML and Javascript to improve interactivity with minimal page reposts (remember this was pre-AJAX). We also improved the data access layer with caching and in some cases removed a "business layer" that had no purpose except to satisfy an idea of how many tiers an application should have.

We learned we had a constituency of visually impaired customers who, for the first time, were able to grocery shop independently. That was very satisfying to hear. We also learned there was a lot we could improve for screen reading software so I dedicated one of our team members to writing custom pages as needed to make the best possible experience for those customers.

The biggest changes were to the user interface, UX. I personally created the new designs, mocked them in Photoshop and implemented the HTML and CSS. I focused on minimizing the number of clicks required to accomplish any task. See the screens folder for more samples but highlights include …

The response to our update was hugely positive.

Compared to Safeway, Albertsons “has a much easier Web site to navigate. There are drop-down menus for finding items by either category or name, a much quicker solution than waiting for successive pages to load on the Safeway site.” — Mike Langberg, Mercury News, March 27, 2002

After placing orders from both sites, “I came to some obvious conclusions: Safeway needs to revamp its online presentation, borrowing ideas generously from the superior Albertsons site.” — Mike Langberg

“This reporter decided to test the two Internet stores to see if they lived up to their billing. What I found are two polar opposites: one was relatively smooth, the other suffering an array of shortcomings … I had no choice but to declare Albertsons the winner in this competition” — Verne Kopytoff, San Francisco Chronicle, May 20, 2002

Our customer service department forwarded all the feedback to our team, good and back. Fortunately, most was like this:

Your new format is wonderful! It's very easy to use and a huge improvement from the previous site. You made wonderful enhancements and I'm really pleased to be using your service. — Marci

This new online format is much faster and easier! Good job! — Cynthia

Just to let you know how much I enjoyed shopping from your site with the new format. Everything is so much easier to access and runs much smoother than previously. Thanks for the update … a faithful customer, Marlene

thank you very much. i sure like the changes you made to albertsons. thank you. — Corinne

I just used the updated site and was so happy with the speed it operated compared to the old version … well I just wanted to let you know it functions so much easier — Matt

Your new system of ordering groceries is excellent. I accomplished my order in half the time it took me before. Thanks for updating it! — Beth

Your new Website is a big improvement!!! It is so much easier to shop now. — Matt and Laura

Your new format is a vast improvement. Every time I edited my shopping list in the old format I inadvertently deleted something I wanted to buy. I like the shopping cart on the left hand side of the screen. It makes it much easier to add or delete quantities. — Patricia

Your new website setup is great!!! It's pleasing to the eye, intuitive and much easier to use. Keep up the good work. — anonymous

Wow! You folks did a fantastic job!! Thank you so very much for doing such a great job on this. I tried it out and it is the best laid out page I have every used for shopping and I have seen a lot. Very nice job and I am going to spread the word immediately on this. — Tom

Just wanted to say I love the new look of the web site. Previously, I did all the online shopping, but the new web site is so much easier to use, now my husband and I share the shopping duties. Please keep up the good work … we love the online option! — Caroline

Excellent! Great website … groceries were on time and everything was great! Just wanted to tell you what a great job your people are doing. Thanks again. — Denia

Just wanted to say thanks for your new website for online shopping. It took me about half as much time as before. It is so easy to find the products that I want or need. Thanks again for making my life a little bit simpler and better. — Pat

Please pass this on to the correct person … the new online ordering website is fantastic! What a huge improvement and so easy to bounce from screen to screen. Thanks for the great improvement. — Bobbi

Just wanted to let you know that the new alberstons.com design is wonderful! It makes shopping so much faster. Thanks. — Benjamin

This is my first visit to the website since the site was updated and I have to say "Bravo" for the improvements. It made the selection and review much quicker. — Cathy

Hi, I just wanted to let you guys know your new format is awesome, great, fantastic. I have been using you for like a year now and had some kinks along the way but all in all it is just great. As of today, it was a wonderful experience. I cut my ordering time by 3/4ths!!! It was so easy having the cart on the same screen and not having to go back and forth. It was also very easy to navigate and figure out how to use the new format for the first time. Thank you so much. — Judi

Wow!!! This is so much faster to have a "1" in each box and a "+" to increase quantities so you don't need to continually switch back and forth from using the "mouse." — Marie

This is my third time ordering from you, and I want to take the time to tell you how great your website is. It is so well organized, you have so many easy routes to get to the products I want, plus you allow me to see quickly all you carry. Thanks! — Doug

Just wanted to say what a great new web site — easy to operate, intelligently set up and thank you, Albertsons! — Jennifer

Just visited the "new" website. It looks great! I was just finalizing yesterday's order so I haven't actually done any shopping yet but I'm sure it will be a pleasure. Thanks and congratulations. — Dave

Just a general message re: your web page. With the new changes you just put into effect, it is much more user friendly than it was the last time I used it. — anonymous.

Ironically, when last I checked (2017), Albertsons had reverted more than a decade and was using the old Safeway shopping site we trounced long ago.

That is because only a couple years after the redesign highlighted here, a new CTO brought in his associates who wanted to rebuild the site using their preferred software stack (for no business reason we were made aware of).

Unfortunately, the new stack seemed slow and convoluted. And for what? We all ended up leaving. Millions of dollars and a few years later, that work was, unsurprisingly, defunct. But so was the successful site.

When, after more years, Albertsons acquired Safeway, apparently their old commerce site was the best thing available.