Scenario: Grocery, Inc. is a retail grocery store chain based in Any State, U.S.A. Grocery has stores throughout the United States. Tom Green works as the produce manager for the store in My Town, U.S.A. Jeff Fresh, 17 years old, is spending his summer vacation working for Tom in the produce department.
Grocery has recently developed an online ordering service for home delivery within a 10 mile radius of each its stores. In order to use the service, Grocery requires customers to agree to terms and conditions of a contract the first time a customer enters an online order. The contract specifies that advertised sales prices do not apply to online purchases and orders are limited to inventory on hand at the nearest store. George sees a Grocery newspaper advertisement for a chocolate sauce which has been discontinued at a reduced price. The sauce is a key ingredient in a special cake recipe he uses in his catering business. George attempts to make an online purchase of all of the remaining sauce at the store nearest to him. The store advises it has sold out, even though it has 10 cases in inventory. George then requests online that the store obtain the chocolate sauce from two other stores within the 10 mile radius. Grocery refuses citing the contract. George sues claiming the contract is not effective and he should receive all available chocolate sauce from all three stores at the sales price or that he should receive damages equal to the amount of money he would have made from selling cakes made with the chocolate sauce. Who wins? In your response, be sure to analyze the contractual issues unique to e-commerce.