For the first time, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants will be able to select and pay for their groceries online during a two-year test launched April 18 in New York. In making the announcement, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue highlighted the potential for online purchasing, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s commitment to program integrity by looking carefully at the pilot program. Lessons learned from this pilot are expected to inform future efforts to expand online purchasing in SNAP.

“People who receive SNAP benefits should have the opportunity to shop for food the same way more and more Americans shop for food: by ordering and paying for groceries online. As technology advances, it is important for SNAP to advance too, so we can ensure the same shopping options are available for both non-SNAP and SNAP recipients,” Perdue said. “We look forward to monitoring how these pilots increase food access and customer service to those we serve, specifically those who may experience challenges in visiting brick and mortar stores.”

The system has been developed to allow online purchasing only by SNAP households with electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards issued by New York for the start of this online pilot project. Online retailers will be limited to delivery in the pilot areas in New York only. Information regarding expansion will be available after this launch is determined to be successful and other pilot states indicate their readiness to implement it.

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Amazon and Walmart will participate in the initial pilot launch today, with ShopRite joining early next week. ShopRite and Amazon are providing service to the New York City area, and Walmart is providing online service in upstate New York locations. Additional retailers are slated to participate in the pilot in the coming months. The pilot will eventually expand to other areas of New York as well as Alabama, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington.

The pilot will test both online ordering and payment. SNAP participants will be able to use their benefits to purchase eligible food items but will not be able to use SNAP benefits to pay for service or delivery charges. For more information, visit the SNAP Online Purchasing pilot webpage.

The 2014 farm bill authorized USDA to conduct and evaluate a pilot for online purchasing prior to national implementation. The pilot phase is intended to ensure that online transactions are processed safely and securely. USDA anticipates that all eligible and interested retailers that can meet the requirements to process online SNAP transactions will eventually be able to take part, although the timeline is dependent on the progress of the pilot and any regulations that may need to be issued.

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