Amazon unveils online grocery supermarket

It is apparently cheaper than Asda too!

Amazon is planning to take on the supermarket price war with it’s own rival grocery store.

Launched on Thursday 9th June, AmazonFresh is the latest from the online giant which boasts a range of 130,000 products.

There will be a huge offering of food & drink as well as household products such as cleaning and laundry to hardware and toiletries will be available at the click of a button.
According to research using a weekly shopping list from trade magazine The Grocer , an AmazonFresh basket cost £58.93 compared with Asda at £59.90, Tesco at £60.86,Morrisons at £62.22 and Sainsbury’s at £65.43.

In a like-for-like comparison of staples from bread, cereal, baked beans, veg, butter and milk, AmazonFresh was cheaper than Asda for eight items and more expensive on four.

One of my favourite perks of the Amazon online shop is Amazon will offer shoppers same day delivery on orders placed before 1pm as well as hourly slots from 7am to 11am, seven days a week.

However, the downside is the service is only available in London at the moment and only available to those signed up to the online store’s Amazon Prime service which costs £79 a year.

If the trial is successful, the scheme will be rolled out in phases nationwide with cities like Birmingham and Manchester likely to be next.

While members will be able to benefit from a free 30 day trial, there will be a rolling monthly fee of £6.99 for an unlimited number of deliveries for orders of £40 or over.

AmazonFresh shoppers who spend less than £40 will have to cough up an additional £3.99 for the door-to-door service.

Orders will be sent from their huge depot in Bow, East London using Amazon’s existing fleet of delivery vans and courier services.

Frozen and chilled items will arrive in polystyrene cooler boxes which drivers will take away to be reused.

All the shopping will be in free, brown paper carrier bags with colour coded handles so householders can tell at a glance if items are for the cupboard, fridge or freezer.

AmazonFresh vice president Ajay Kavan said: “The bar in grocery retailing is exceptionally high. We believe that the key to the longterm success of AmazonFresh is to bring together the low prices,vast selection, fast delivery options and customer experience that Amazon customers know. We are launching with a comprehensive offer in a limited area and will take our time to hone and improve our service. We will be very methodical and considered in how we roll this service out further in the UK.”

What do you think of this? Do you hope it is rolled out around the UK?