Amazon Announces AmazonFresh Pickup, Delays Amazon Go
Amazon has announced AmazonFresh Pickup, which will offer click-and-collect grocery service for its Prime members. The service is currently only open to Amazon employees in its beta program, but members can sign up to be notified when it opens to the public. There are two Pickup locations available in Seattle currently, in the SODO and Ballard neighborhoods.
Once officially open, all Prime members will enjoy free and unlimited Pickup benefits. AmazonFresh members will receive the added benefit of picking up orders in as little as 15 minutes from the time they are placed.
No minimum order is a highlight of the service for all members. Prime members pay $99-per-year, while AmazonFresh delivery costs $14.99 per month on top of the Prime fee.
"Amazon has cracked the code on a convenient shopping experience and they're quickly extending this into grocery," said Alexis Clarfield-Henry, Director of Marketing, Unata. "The result will be a redefined set of consumer expectations around how quickly and easily they can get their groceries."
To use the click-and-collect service, members order groceries online from thousands of grocery items, including meats, fresh produce, bread, dairy, household essentials and more. Then they choose a timeslot, drive to one of the Pickup locations, and have the food loaded into their vehicle by an employee.
“By entering the brick and mortar retail environment, Amazon is not only recognizing the power of omnichannel retail, they are pushing its boundaries and creating the most seamless brand experience possible between e-commerce platforms and their physical stores," said Nick McLean, CEO, OrderDynamics. "In many ways, this tactic is helping Amazon merely catch up to retailers who have long leveraged their stores as a competitive advantage, meaning those retailers will need to invest in technology and process to improve order management flexibility and effectively fight back.”
Of course the road to brick-and-mortar hasn't been a smooth one for Amazon. It was recently reported that Amazon Go, its cashier-less stores, is a no go for now. Amazon will not open the checkout-free concept in Seattle later this month as planned, The Wall Street Journal is reporting. Instead, Amazon needs more time to address some quirks of the technology.
According to the report, Amazon's sensors are only able to track approximately 20 people in Amazon Go marketplaces at a time. Up to 20 people, the automated store can track customers and check them out without trouble. Once more customers enter the store or when they slow their movements, Amazon's technology cannot so easily track them and the purchasing process breaks down, the report says.
Click here to read the full story: "Amazon Delays Public Opening of Checkout-Free Concept"