Amazon Expands 2-Hour Whole Foods Delivery
Faster service offer is aimed at rival Walmart.
Sep 24, 2019
SEATTLE, Wash.—Amazon has expanded its two-hour delivery service for Whole Foods customers to almost 30 cities in an attempt to take on Walmart, according to Pymnts.com.
Last month, Amazon launched a pilot program using the purchase histories of Whole Foods shoppers, who use their Prime memberships. The company suggested previously purchased products on its main website and sweetened the offer with the promise of free delivery within two hours. The company quickly extended the service to nearly 30 cities, including Detroit, Houston and Los Angeles. “Most grocery customers buy the same things over and over again,” said an Amazon spokeswoman. “The past purchases feature enables customers to quickly add favorite products to their cart.”
Amazon hopes to better compete with Walmart in the $840 billion U.S. grocery market, where Walmart and sister company Sam’s Club receive 25% of all grocery spending in the U.S. Amazon’s Whole Foods, by comparison, only gets 2%, which is no doubt impacted by the fact that Walmart has more than 4,500 U.S. stores or 10 times the number of Whole Foods locations.
“Amazon has been critiqued for not making full use of the Whole Foods acquisition, and this is about to change that,” said Juozas Kaziukenas, founder of New York e-commerce research firm Marketplace Pulse. “Having local stores act as two-hour delivery hubs is exactly why Amazon acquired the company.”
In the meantime, Walmart is expanding its own grocery delivery options. In June, it rolled out its “Delivery Unlimited” subscription. Customers have the option of either paying $12.95 per month or $98 per year for a subscription that lets them shop online and have their groceries delivered as often as they like.
At $98 per year, Walmart’s Delivery Unlimited service is competitively priced with Target’s Shipt at $99 a year, Instacart at $99 annually and Amazon Prime, which is $119 but includes additional services.
Category Management Branding Inventory management Merchandising New product introduction Promotions Wholesale distribution Store maintenance Sustainability
