It was bound to happen: Amazon launches first grocery store Amazon has once again expanded its reach in all things commerce, this time with its own take on the grocery store. A pilot program being carried out under the Amazon Fresh banner will allow Seattle residents to order various fresh grocery items (including produce and dairy) ahead of time, and then pick them up at an Amazon …
This is wrong on so many levels
The major online grocery retailers work because they have massive bricks-and-mortar shops and warehouses to provide good prices. Unless amazon plan to buy out Kwikimart or something that won't apply.
And it's another tax on Prime users. 'Free' - but useless if you don't want it/aren't eligible. I just wish they'd split Prime into its component parts - I'd happily pay a fair price for free next day delivery, but they don't offer that. Prime means that as well as the delivery I have to pay for lots of useless things I'll never want or use (Clarkson?).
If you're "old school", going to the store and looking at what you're buying (especially fruits, veggies, and meat) is a ritual. I know of several chef's at higher end restaurants who buy their produce and meats this way as they don't trust the local suppliers to inspect and check the quality of their goods.
I'd add to this. Not only I'd rather pick "my own", but I'd like to pick some random stuff here and there besides basics I needed. So much for scripted shopping (not worth the time it takes to put together the list). And going off my way is not an option (Amazon or any other membership scheme/chain).
Ordering online but then collecting in person is just silly. It's the worst of both worlds. Surely the whole point of buying online is to avoid leaving the couch/bed/desk. If I'm going to have to travel miles to pick up groceries in person then I may as well just do the shopping in person while I'm there. That way I also get the opportunity to buy the "spoiled" discount items that never make it into the online store, plus I get to smell and feel the stuff I'm buying - a reasonably important consideration when it comes to food.
Mobile but pressed for time.
Mobile but hate shopping, esp. waiting in line. Me myself personally, I hate waiting in lines.
Only quasi-mobile, e.g. wheelchair-bound. Or not wheelchair-bound, but walking is difficult and/or painful.
There are three scenarios that may not apply to you, but may apply to other people.
I'd claim credit for inventing internet grocery shopping, but nevermind it was probably modelled by some fantasist in 1832. In my model, there was no internet, it was server-modem-POTS-(300 BAUD) modem-client. And the groceries were delivered. It was a society where, for whatever reason, the personal automotive vehicle was deprecated.
...except they bring it to your door? I already avoid Amazon as much as I can and support smaller specialist vendors (DVDs, CDs, clothing etc), because of Amazon's shit treatment of their staff. I can't see how they'd be any better with food distrbutors and farmers, who are already squeezed.
...is one thing, but dairy, and other food items are on an entirely different level.
Having to go through the compliance hoops of ensuring that food is kept at the correct temperature, is properly stock rotated, and within BBE guidelines, has no burst packaging or pest infestation issues, is not exposed to other food items containing allergens, means staff have to be properly trained, and stock management needs extra tables/fields for these extras, all of which costs.
The likes of Ocado and Sainsburys have food hygiene built into their stock management already, and flogging tv's etc. is the icing on their cake for them, whereas Amazon are approaching from the opposite direction.
wait until the grocer unions get wind of it. Over here in the USA, Target and Walmart and other "non-union" retailers offer groceries now, and it's WAY cheaper than Vons/Safeway or the others. And so I've been getting a lot from Target and Walmart lately, though the availability and selection isn't quite as good. I can still go to Vons for things NOT carried at Target, but my grocery bill is considerably smaller than it would have otherwise been, maybe 20 percent or more.
So yeah I welcome the competition. I'm tired of being presented ONLY with expensive brand-named things at the grocery stores anyway... when Walmart's _slightly_ lower quality, half-priced alternative is effectively just as good [except it requires a trip to WalMart, something I don't enjoy all that much]
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