SEATTLE, WA – After entering the realm of grocery delivery as a fierce competitor, Recode reported Amazon emailed customers in nine states to inform them that the AmazonFresh grocery delivery service was closing in certain neighborhoods after November 30.
“We have made changes to our service area and discontinued delivery to select zip codes. AmazonFresh continues to serve customers across the U.S. (Seattle, New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and more) and internationally (London, Tokyo, and Berlin)” said an Amazon spokeswoman, reported the Albany Business Review.
After launching over a decade ago in Seattle and waiting five years before beginning expansion to other cities, AmazonFresh has alerted today New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and California, and now New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia of closures, Recode reports.
Recode also reported Amazon’s CFO revealing in a recent conference call with Wall Street analysts that there would be more cooperation over time between Whole Foods, AmazonFresh, and the Amazon Prime Now one-hour delivery service. This news also comes days after Amazon unveiled plans to slash fees for indepedent grocery sellers operating on its main website, and increase its packaged grocery selection.
Despite its wary and slow rollout, Reuters reported Amazon has yet to make a major dent in the $700 billion U.S. grocery market, even after acquiring Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. A company spokeswoman said that the AmazonFresh closures were unrelated to the Whole Foods deals.
AmazonFresh customers currently pay $14.95 a month in addition to the $99 Prime membership program, which gives customers access to a selection of fresh and frozen foods that can be delivered same day or next day.
With competitor HelloFresh finding public success, will AmazonFresh rally for the rising demand of online grocery delivery or focus even further on growing its recent ventures into brick and mortar? AndNowUKnow will continue to report.
