Online retailer Amazon is working on a network of smaller food supermarkets in an attempt to gain a larger foothold in the food distribution industry.
Food is mainly an offline matter
Only Amazon Fresh members would be able to visit these food supermarkets, which would only sell perishable foods at first.
According to the Wal Street Journal, Amazon is also working on drive-ins, where consumers can pick up their online purchases.
Drive-ins
Despite the online popularity of many items, food is still something most consumers prefer to buy offline in brick-and-mortar stores. Only 2 % of food is bought online, which is not helped by the fact that 80 % of Americans lives rather close to a convenience store, in a 2.5 mile radius.
The internet giant is already active in the food distribution industry, with delivery services in several American cities and London, where it brings fresh food to the customer’s doorstep with Amazon Fresh, a 14.99 dollar monthly subscription on top of Amazon Prime. Analysts feel that Amazon’s supermarkets will become as complementary as possible with its own delivery service.
