Online grocery shopping is growing, with sales projected to reach $7.5 billion this year. It can take just 10 minutes to order online, compared with around an hour to buy the same cartful in the store.

Safeway, Amazon, and Kroger are just a few of the companies that are offering groceries online. Can it save you money? Consumer Reports ShopSmart sampled one service, Peapod, and compared it with shopping at the supermarket.

The first thing ShopSmart noticed is that the selection wasn’t as wide online. Also, there was a $50 minimum charge and you had to pay a delivery fee of $9.95.

On the plus side, Peapod honors coupons and it has online specials. ShopSmart ordered everything from apples to lettuce to milk. The prices online were about the same as they were in the store. All the food was fine except for a couple of broken eggs.

So should you check out online grocery shopping? It can save you time. It can save you money on gas. You might want to do some comparison-shopping and see whether it’s right for you.

Online grocery services vary, including policies on delivery fees and coupons. A good source to find out which online grocery services are available near you is the Web site www.egroceryusa.com.