Dive Summary:
- After piloting its online grocery business AmazonFresh in Seattle for five years, Amazon may launch AmazonFresh in Los Angeles next week and in San Francisco and the Bay Area later this year, according to two anonymous sources.
- AmazonFresh is reportedly eyeing a massive expansion in up to 40 U.S. markets, according to Bill Bishop, a supermarket analyst.
- While the online grocery market has yet to see its first success story, Amazon is looking to expand into new markets and some believe the expansion into online groceries is just the first step towards Amazon creating its own delivery service for all goods, not just fresh produce.
From the article:
"Amazon has been testing this for years and now it's time for them to harvest what they've learned by expanding outside Seattle," said Bishop, chief architect at Brick Meets Click, a consulting firm focused on retail technology.
"The fear is that grocery is a loss leader and Amazon will make a profit on sales of other products ordered online at the same time," he said. "That's an awesomely scary prospect for the grocery business."
