retail environment
Amazon to launch fresh grocery delivery service
Food home delivery is about to get the Amazon treatment as the online giant is poised to launch a new “Ultra Fast Fresh” delivery service to bring rapid grocery deliver to 40 per cent of UK households by 2021.
The online giant is aiming to merge its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service with its super-fast delivery arm Prime Now in the UK, retrofitting nine of its warehouses to handle, fulfil and deliver fresh produce in a matter of hours, according to The Grocer.
Amazon is understood to have met with a number of suppliers to discuss “hybrid grocery” service which will be fulfilled from these retrofitted warehouses, the first of which is expected to be in London.
Amazon Fresh is now available on demand in the UK allowing Prime customers which are not signed up to the monthly delivery service to order groceries online anytime.
Prime customers who live within the 302 postcodes in London and the South East can now pay £2.99 for a one-off on-demand grocery delivery on orders over £40.
Previously Amazon Fresh deliveries, which they claim can arrive in as little as one hour, were only available to subscribers who pay £3.99 a month for unlimited deliveries.
Although Amazon has also launched this new scheme in Indianapolis in the US, it is not yet clear if this service will be expanded to more locations in the UK.
“We are constantly innovating on behalf of our customers to deliver the things we believe they will always care about – low prices, vast selection and fast delivery,” Amazon Fresh UK country manager Russell Jones said.
“By offering an on demand option as part of our Amazon Fresh service, Prime members have even more flexibility when it comes to doing their weekly shop online.”.
