Amazon claims to be offering more choices while making grocery shopping faster and easier by bringing together the best of Whole Foods Market, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon.com.
The retailer is “mixing and matching” its offerings and using its fulfillment and delivery services in innovative ways to make it easier to shop across its online and physical stores, while getting the best value for your money.
“Customers want choice when it comes to groceries, and the ability to shop for different products, price points, and occasions, all within a shopping experience they know and love,” said Tony Hoggett, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Grocery Stores at Amazon.
“They want to know they are getting extra savings and benefits, no matter if they shop online, in a store, for a weekly or top-up shop, or for budget or premium items. This is what we’re building at Amazon.”
Cross category fast deliveries
Identifying that it’s not easy for consumers to quickly place one online order for fast delivery across a broad selection of products (eg last minute gifts bundled with ingredients for tomorrow’ breakfast), Amazon has introduced sameday and overnight delivery for bundled orders.
A trial in the greater Phoenix area allows customers to shop tens of thousands of grocery items – including fresh groceries – alongside millions of Amazon.com products, and have them delivered, together, in hours.
“It’s Amazon’s unparalleled selection under one roof, coupled with Same-Day Delivery speeds and multiple delivery window options, that sets this experience apart,” Mr Hoggett said.
“We’re going to continue to expand to more locations as we test and learn with this model. Over time, we expect to see more and more customers using Same-Day Delivery from Amazon to shop for fresh groceries or get ingredients for meals.”
Broader selection at Fresh fulfillment centres
Amazon is also expanding its range of products within some of its Amazon Fresh fulfillment centres (FCs). The change means that online shoppers could order natural and organic ingredients from Whole Foods Market, low-cost snacks from Amazon Fresh, plus socks and a tennis racket, all delivered in a single Amazon Fresh order.
“With this model, we can offer a wide range of products covering groceries and popular everyday products, different flavours and size packs, organic and specialty dietary restrictions, national and local offerings, and so much more,” Mr Hoggett said.
“We can also span a wide range of price tiers, from our private brand labels like Amazon Saver that offer most products under $5, to household favourites like Coke, Kraft, and Tide, and even premium ingredients for special occasions.”
The retail giant has modified 26 Amazon Fresh FCs around the world and plans to convert more of its existing FCs to this model over time to give more customers access to a broad selection in one simple experience.
Instore micro-fulfillment
Shoppers can also pick up more grocery and household goods while shopping at Whole Foods Market, eliminating the need for extra trips.
Amazon is building its first-ever automated micro FC at a Whole Foods Market store in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. The micro FC will supplement what’s in-store with popular essentials from Amazon.com and favorites from Amazon Fresh, all under one roof.
“Customers will have three options to seamlessly shop our combined range of products: order online for fast at-home delivery, order online for quick and easy pick up, or shop in person at the store,” Mr Hoggett said.
“Let’s imagine a customer is shopping in store. As they browse the aisles for their favourite Whole Foods Market products, they can also easily place an order for Tide Pods and Pepsi from the Amazon app on their phone. These additional items will be prepared in the back-of-house while the customer finishes up shopping, and will be ready to go when they check out – all within minutes after placing the order.”
This service will be ready for customers at the Plymouth Meeting location next year.
Prime savings
Mr Hoggett says Prime members can shop all of this choice with exclusive savings and added convenience.
“Members have access to Same-Day and Next-Day delivery on millions of household goods; our low-cost grocery delivery subscription with even more convenient grocery delivery and pickup options; free GrubHub+ membership, a $120 value; medical prescriptions delivered to their door in just two days, unlimited 5% back on purchases when using our Prime Visa card; and so much more,” he said.
Amazon recently announced additional exclusive Prime savings on more than 3,000 essential grocery items at Amazon Fresh, including up to 50% off weekly rotating grocery favourites and up to 25% off on name brands. These everyday savings are on top of exclusive global shopping events like Prime Day and Prime Big Deal Days.
Mr Hoggett says it’s still “day 1” of Amazon’s grocery enhancements and the retailer will continue to focus on offering customers the broadest choice available with better value and faster speeds.
“We’ll do this by connecting our grocery stores and fulfillment centres across the world, alongside 20+ local grocery partners, with Amazon’s huge product selection, and strengthening our capabilities to serve all of customers’ shopping needs,” he said.
“This is how we make customers’ lives easier.”
