Dive Brief:
- Amazon is testing a grocery subscription program for its Prime members in Columbus, Ohio; Sacramento, California; and Denver, the company announced in an email Thursday.
- The service, which costs $9.99 per month, offers customers unlimited free delivery from Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market on orders over $35 and unlimited 30-minute pickup regardless of order size.
- The pilot continues Amazon’s efforts to regain momentum in the grocery sector after the company paused the rollout of Amazon Fresh stores earlier this year as it retooled its strategy.
Dive Insight:
Amazon described the membership program as a way for it to “build a best-in-class grocery shopping experience — whether shopping in store or online — where Amazon is the first choice for selection, value, and convenience.”
The company indicated that it wants to emphasize to consumers the connection between Amazon and its grocery brands, describing the program it is testing as part of what it called a “one Amazon relationship.”
“We’re always experimenting with features to make shopping easier, faster, and more affordable, and we look forward to hearing how members who take advantage of this offer respond,” Tony Hoggett, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide grocery stores, said in a statement.
Amazon did not indicate how long the pilot will last or if it plans to broaden the test to other markets.
The subscription program follows Amazon’s announcement last month that it had stopped requiring shoppers to be members of Prime to access grocery delivery and free pickup services from Amazon Fresh stores following a pilot that began during the summer. Amazon also plans to expand its delivery service to Whole Foods shoppers who don’t belong to Prime.
In October, Amazon Fresh lowered the minimum order size for free grocery delivery to $100, reversing its decision in January to raise the threshold to $150.
Amazon has also recently moved ahead with a project to refresh its Amazon Fresh brand, acknowledging that the brick-and-mortar stores it began rolling out under that name had not connected with shoppers as well as it had hoped they would. The company is now working on improvements including a broader assortment, more self-checkout stations, better lighting and themed displays.
“There are some clear fundamentals that every grocer needs to get right. And we need to improve on that,” Claire Peters, vice president of retail at Amazon, said in a November interview.
