On Wednesday, Amazon announced several new ways it plans to enhance the grocery shopping experience for Prime members. These include enabling Same-Day Delivery for both fresh groceries and Amazon.com products simultaneously, as well as introducing additional features to simplify the shopping process.
Amazon aims to enhance its online grocery delivery service by allowing Prime members to purchase fresh groceries alongside other Amazon.com products and receive them within a few hours. Previously, users were only able to have Amazon Fresh groceries delivered on the same day.
The company is currently piloting this service for customers in Phoenix. Amazon plans to gradually expand this service to more locations but didn’t specify which cities will be next.
Additionally, the e-commerce giant is expanding its product selection within Amazon Fresh fulfillment centers.
Members can now purchase items from three Amazon-owned brands– Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market — in a single order. Initially, this model will be implemented in nine Amazon Fresh fulfillment centers, with plans to convert more locations over time. This could make the process of buying groceries and other everyday essentials via Amazon less confusing, as the company has yet to integrate all its brands into a single online offering.
Amazon is also constructing its first automated micro-fulfillment center at a Whole Foods Market store in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.
Micro-fulfillment centers are small storage facilities utilized by e-commerce businesses to store their inventory near shoppers to minimize expenses and transit times. The new center will offer popular essentials from Amazon.com and Amazon Fresh products, all in one place, allowing customers to buy various items without having to visit multiple stores. Customers will have three options to shop the combined range of products: order online for fast at-home delivery, order online for quick pick-up, or shop in person at the store.
The new micro-fulfillment service will be available at the Plymouth Meeting location next year.
Amazon’s recent announcement comes after the company launched “Amazon Saver,” a new line of budget-friendly food items meant to appeal to customers affected by high inflation. Most products are priced at less than $5, making them a cost-effective option for household staples, pantry items, and perishables. Amazon’s new label brand targets competitors Aldi, Target, and Walmart, all of which have budget-friendly private label brands that are popular with customers.