Amazon’s fresh grocery service arrives in New York
18 Oct 2014
Amazon launched its grocery delivery service AmazonFresh way back in 2007, which was finally arriving for the first time on the east coast, techradar.com reported.
The company confirmed to Re/code that AmazonFresh deliveries in New York City would start today.
However, for most New York residents, the service for now was only available in Brooklyn, beginning in Park Slope and eventually expanding outward.
New York customers at this time would also need to be Amazon Prime subscribers. They would get deliveries free through the end of 2014, but next year would need to upgrade to a $299 "Prime Fresh" membership.
AmazonFresh had so far operated in California and Seattle.
Orders placed before 10 am would be delivered the same day, while later orders would arrive the following day.
Additionally, Fresh was not limited to just groceries, and customers could have electronics and other items delivered too.
According to commentators it would be interesting to see how Amazon competed with the several grocery delivery services that had emerged in New York in its absence.
Amazon also planned to expand to other areas in Brooklyn as well, although the company did not disclose wheteher it also plans to put up stores in Manhattan or other parts of the New York metro area, franchiseherald.com commented.
Amazon, however faces tough competition in New York with several neighbourhood food stores in every corner like cheese shops, mid-sized supermarkets, the Park Slope Food Corp and others.
The company's edge remained on its "convenience factor," offering customers less hassle in ordering their food by bringing it to them personally.
AmazonFresh is currently available only to members of Amazon's $99 per year programme and following the promo, the company would start to charge $299 per year for its Prime Fresh programme, which consisted of grocery delivery with free two-day shipping, among other perks.
