Publix will post an interactive version of print ad online

Publix Supermarkets Inc. has started posting its weekly newspaper sales flier at Publix.com.

Customers enter their ZIP code or city to find the ad specific to the store they shop. The site cookies customers to remember their selected store and bring it up on subsequent site visits. Customers may select a different store at any time.

The ad isn’t just an online representation of the print version. Customers can browse the weekly ad by page to see all the items listed as well as any other information in the ad, such as product information or store services. But they can also view the ad by category, brand name or keyword search. Each version has pop-up boxes that appear when the mouse hovers over an individual item, giving the details of that particular item. Coupons are not included in the electronic version, but customers may still obtain coupons from the weekly flier ads in the store.

"We`ve had a number of customers asking to view our ads online, and we believe the time is right for us to offer this type of service to customers,” says a Publix spokesman.

Publix will not include special ads, such as non-weekly newspaper ads, and in-store or one-store special ads. It will provide Spanish ads for areas that receive Spanish print ads.

Lakeland, FL-based Publix operates 803 stores in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee and had 2002 sales of $15.9 billion.