Amazon recently started its rollout of Amazon Fresh in the United Kingdom, offering same-day and next-day delivery and collection options with a minimum order value of £15 for Amazon Prime customers.
This expansion builds on the retailer’s grocery efforts in the United States. In Summer 2020, Amazon opened its first Fresh location in Woodland Hills, California. This move differentiates Amazon’s grocery options beyond its Whole Foods subsidiary, which primarily focuses on higher-end organic and specialty goods.
Many believe Amazon Fresh is primarily a threat to the larger retailers, but using a £15 basket with same-day delivery for free could seriously affect smaller grocers. For example, Aldi and SPAR made strides to embrace online grocery for the first time as COVID-19 prompted rapid demand for e-commerce. With online shopping volumes more than doubling for grocery retailers in only five months, smaller convenience stores should begin to consider what this means for their existing technology and service offering.
Amazon’s efforts are setting the company up to become the first truly digitally native omnichannel grocer. But how can traditional grocers compete?