Dive Brief:
- Amazon announced Thursday that it now offers grocery delivery and free pickup to non-Prime members in all markets where its Amazon Fresh stores and online services operate.
- This follows a pilot program launched this summer that offered Amazon Fresh delivery and fee-free pickup to non-Prime members in a dozen markets.
- Amazon will soon also expand grocery delivery and free pickup from Whole Foods Market to shoppers who aren’t Prime members, highlighting the company’s drive to expand engagement across its grocery brands.
Dive Insight:
Up until recently, Amazon has dangled online grocery delivery and pickup as perks for its millions of Prime members — an approach aimed at keeping these members engaged and enticing non-users to sign up.
But with its Amazon Fresh delivery expansion pilot that launched in August, and now this latest move to nationwide availability, Amazon is showing that it’s also focused on motivating as many shoppers as it can to use its omnichannel grocery services.
Amazon Fresh delivery, which launched more than a decade ago, is currently available in most major U.S. metropolitan markets, while pickup is available from the brand’s 44 grocery stores. Once integrated with Whole Foods stores, shoppers without a Prime membership in more than 3,500 towns and cities across the U.S. will have access to delivery and pickup via Amazon, Thursday’s announcement noted.
Amazon Fresh shoppers without Prime memberships pay grocery delivery fees ranging from $4.95 to $13.95 depending on the basket size and delivery window they select. Prime members pay $4 less across this range and also get free delivery on orders over $100.
Amazon’s grocery expansion has not gone according to plan so far. Its Amazon Fresh stores have underwhelmed consumers since launching in late 2020, leading the company to pause the chain’s expansion back in February.
But e-commerce is Amazon’s bread and butter, and in recent months it has been making various adjustments to improve profitability while also drawing shoppers to the platform. Last month, Amazon Fresh lowered its threshold for fee-free delivery to $100 after raising it to $150 earlier in the year. It’s also working on making it possible for shoppers to receive products from its Amazon.com, Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh brands in one order, Bloomberg recently reported.
Amazon Fresh is also testing a refreshed store model that includes more colorful signage, enhanced lighting, a Krispy Kreme donut shop and additional products meant to round out shoppers’ baskets. The chain introduced these changes at two Chicago-area stores late this summer and has also recently updated three stores in Southern California — in Pasadena, Irvine and Woodland Hills.
More than 90% of consumers surveyed at the Chicago area stores in September said they were “very satisfied” with the changes to the locations, the release noted.
Amazon’s grocery focus extends beyond its stores and online platforms. Several grocers, including Bristol Farms, Save Mart, Cardenas Markets and Weis Markets, currently list their assortments on Amazon’s website. Shoppers who order through these sites will get their products delivered by Amazon workers. Amazon also offers this marketplace and delivery service to major U.K. grocers Morrisons, Iceland and Co-op.
