Amazon Takes Food Orders – Grocery-store pickup service is launched (US)

Source: www.wsj.com

Amazon.com Inc. said it is launching a new grocery-store pickup service, pushing deeper into brick-and-mortar retail as it moves to capture more of what people spend on food. The service, called AmazonFresh Pickup, will be available to customers who are part of Amazon’s membership program Prime. For now, the service’s two locations in Seattle are open only to employees. AmazonFresh Pickup will allow customers to choose from thousands of items online and reserve a time for pickup, according to the company. Orders will be ready in as little as 15 minutes, and there is no minimum-order limit. Amazon will select the food, bag it and deliver it to customers’ vehicles. The push by Amazon into brick-and-mortar retail comes as the online company looks to open the door to a key driver of consumer spending that would broaden its dominance in the retail market. It will also help Amazon better compete against rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is also bidding to conquer online grocery shopping. Wal-Mart is expanding a service that lets shoppers order online and pickup curbside to 1,000 stores by the end of next year. Supermarket chain Kroger Co. is also offering a click-and-collect service in more stores. Consulting firm Kantar Retail estimates that online grocery spending is about 1% of the $674 billion U.S. market for edible groceries.