Amazon is rolling out same-day delivery of fresh food to more than 1,000 cities, a sign that it’s finally finding success with its grocery business after years of shifting strategies.
In a move that Amazon describes in a press release as one of its “most significant grocery expansions,” customers can now order perishable food items, including dairy, meat and seafood, alongside their typical Amazon orders and get them on the same day.
Amazon has rolled out – and rolled back – many different grocery options, with various degrees of success. It has partnered with local grocery stores, including its own brands like Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market, to deliver groceries to customers. But those items took customers into different online stores with separate checkouts and delivery fees that sometimes left shopper confused.
Now, in the locations that Amazon is making the service available, customers will be able to check out fresh food and other items from the same cart. Same-day delivery will be free for Prime members on orders over $25 in most cities, or has a $2.99 fee if the order doesn’t meet that minimum. Customers without a Prime subscription can use the service for a $12.99 fee without an order minimum.
Availability will expand to 2,300 cities by year’s end and to additional places in 2026.
The service was trialed last year in Phoenix, Arizona; and this year in Orlando, Florida and Kansas City, Missouri. Amazon said that customers “embraced the convenience,” with many of them being first time grocery customers that “return to shop twice as often” compared to those who didn’t purchase perishable food items.
Wednesday’s expansion will “almost certainly expand Amazon’s market share in food,” said Neil Saunders, managing director and retail analyst at GlobalData Retail.
“As Amazon already has a lot of the logistical infrastructure in place, it should be able to grow profitably, which is something other online grocers have struggled to do,” he told CNN.
The company said that the service complements its existing grocery delivery offerings, including Amazon Fresh, which offers faster deliveries with a higher minimum payment, and Whole Foods Market.
CEO Andy Jassy has said he’s “very bullish” about Amazon’s grocery business, which has gone through multiple directions since the 2017 acquisition of Whole Foods. Attempts at opening physical stores have struggled, as has Amazon’s attempts at operating a separate app for grocery delivery. Amazon had at one point offered Prime members free same-day delivery from Whole Foods Market, but the company now charges $9.95 for all Whole Foods deliveries.
But Amazon has found success with delivery under its core Amazon app, with the company generating $100 billion in grocery sales last year (excluding Whole Foods Market and Fresh). Jassy mentioned on the July 31 earnings call that the “very successful” fresh food pilot saw “strong customer adoption” with about 20% of customers using the service multiple times within the first month.
“Our prices continue to be low and sharp for customers,” he added. “It’s one of the reasons our everyday essentials growth outpaced the rest of the business globally and represented one out of every three units sold.”
However, Saunders said that Amazon “still has physical ambitions in grocery, as the bulk of food shopping still takes place in stores. Unfortunately, the strategy and pathway to success in that arena is a little more hazy.”
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