Amazon Fresh is a subsidiary of the American

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain manag ...

company

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. It is a grocery retailer with physical stores and delivery services in most major U.S. cities, as well as some international cities, such as Berlin, Hamburg, London, Milan, Munich, Rome, Tokyo, and some other locations in Singapore and India. In 2020, Amazon Fresh opened several physical stores in the United States and the United Kingdom. The first store opened in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

area, followed by the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, Washington, D.C., and other areas.

History and business model

Isuzu delivery truck of Amazon Fresh in Seattle 20120926

First Amazon Fresh No-Checkout Store in Europe

Amazon Fresh started in 2007 as an add-on grocery delivery service for

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

members. Amazon Fresh has rolled out its services gradually, targeting specific parts of various metropolitan areas and partnering with local speciality stores for delivery of local items. The Amazon Fresh website allows potential customers to check availability by

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal ...

. Under its former name, Amazon Grocery, it sponsored the

PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Inste ...

series

Curious George Curious George is a fictional monkey who is the title character of a series of popular children's picture books written by Margret and H. A. Rey. Various media, including films and TV shows, have been based upon the original book series. Geo ...

. In March 2017, Amazon announced the beta launch, on March 29, 2017, of Amazon Fresh Pickup, a drive-in-type grocery store for Amazon Prime subscribers. It is a delivery service that lets users shop online, reserve times to pick up the groceries, and have them loaded into their cars at the store. In Germany, the product range is 85,000 product lines. By comparison, the

REWE Rewe (stylized as REWE; ) is a supermarket chain in Germany and the main brand of Rewe Group headquartered in Cologne. The name originated from an abbreviation of the original name "Revisionsverband der Westkauf-Genossenschaften" (Audit union ...

supermarket chain's home delivery service has 9,000 product lines. In the United Kingdom, Amazon signed a deal with the British supermarket chain

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headq ...

to provide supplies for

Amazon Prime Pantry Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

and PrimeFresh. In July 2017, it was reported that Amazon Fresh was selling

meal kit A meal kit is a subscription service–foodservice business model where a company sends customers pre-portioned and sometimes partially-prepared food ingredients and recipes to prepare homecooked meals. Services that send pre-cooked meals ...

s. On November 2, 2017, Amazon announced it was discontinuing its Fresh service to some smaller towns and cities in California, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. On December 13, 2019, Amazon announced its Fresh service will provide one and two hour delivery of meat, seafood, eggs, and produce in Tampa, Florida. Amazon Fresh store in Warrington PA

In 2020, Amazon announced that they are using the name "Amazon Fresh" for their new chain of physical grocery stores in the

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

areas. The first Amazon Fresh grocery store opened to the public on September 17, 2020, in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. On December 10, 2020, Amazon Fresh opened its fifth store and first location outside of California in the Chicago suburb of Naperville. On March 4, 2021, the first Amazon Fresh store in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

was opened, in the

Ealing Broadway Centre The Ealing Broadway Centre, currently branded as simply Ealing Broadway, is a shopping centre in Ealing, west London. Located on The Broadway close by Ealing Broadway station, the centre consists of 85 units both indoor and a courtyard part outdo ...

shopping mall in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was his ...

, West

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The site previously had been occupied by the clothing retailer

Monsoon Accessorize Monsoon Accessorize is a British private limited company. It operates two international retail clothing chains – Monsoon and Accessorize.Washington, D.C. area on May 27, 2021, in the suburb of Franconia, Virginia. On June 17, 2021, Amazon Fresh opened a location in the

suburb of Bellevue using "Just Walk Out" technology which allows customers to skip the checkout line when purchasing their groceries. Amazon Fresh opened their first location in Washington, D.C. in the Logan Circle neighborhood on July 22, 2021; this location uses "Just Walk Out" technology. On August 5, 2021, the first Amazon Fresh grocery store in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

opened in the

suburb of

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

. Two more in Bensalem & Broomall will follow. In September and November, 2021, it was revealed that an Amazon Fresh grocery store would be opening in Braintree and

Saugus, Massachusetts Saugus is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. The population was 28,619 at the 2020 census. Saugus is known as the site of the first integrated iron works in North America. History Native Americans ...

respectively; and one in

Billerica, Massachusetts Billerica (, ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 42,119 according to the 2020 census. It takes its name from the town of Billericay in Essex, England. History In the early 1630s, a Praying Indian ...

according to a report from June 2022. On August 29, 2022, it was revealed that an Amazon Fresh grocery store would be opening in

Leominster, Massachusetts Leominster ( ) is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the second-largest city in Worcester County, with a population of 43,782 at the 2020 census. Leominster is located north of Worcester and northwest of Boston. Bo ...

. On November 23, 2022, it was revealed that an Amazon Fresh grocery store would be opening in

Westborough, Massachusetts Westborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,567 at the 2020 Census, in over 7,000 households. Incorporated in 1717, the town is governed under the New England open town meeting system, headed ...

. On December 7, 2022, it was revealed that an Amazon Fresh grocery store would be opening in

Plymouth Township, Michigan Plymouth Township, officially the Charter Township of Plymouth, is a charter township in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 27,524 at the 2010 census. The city of Plymouth is surrounded by the township but is administ ...

. On November 17, 2022, it was reported that the development of all upcoming Amazon Fresh grocery stores had been indefinitely paused “pending evaluation of the operation.”

Product lines

Amazon Fresh offers grocery items for sale, as well as a subset of items from the main Amazon.com storefront. Items ordered through Amazon Fresh are available for home delivery on the same day or the next day, depending on the time of the order and the availability of delivery slots. Amazon Fresh operates independently of

Whole Foods Whole Foods Market IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A US ...

, which is also owned by Amazon. They have separate facilities and separate inventories that they sell. Market research from Amazon shows that customers at Amazon Fresh tend to have lower incomes and are more likely to be Hispanic or particularly Asian than customers of Whole Foods.

Locations

In the United States in July 2022 Amazon Fresh had 38 locations in the states of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

, Washington, D.C., and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

. In June 2022, Amazon Fresh had 17 locations in London, UK. As of September 2022, 2 Amazon Fresh stores have been confirmed as future locations in Roseville and Elk Grove, California.

Cashierless retail

Dash Carts are shopping carts with a

touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is ofte ...

barcode scanner A barcode reader is an optical scanner that can read printed barcodes, decode the data contained in the barcode to a computer. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a light sensor for translating optical impulses int ...

, cameras, and various sensors to automatically count items placed and remove from the cart, allowing customers to skip conventional checkouts. The customer scans a QR code from their Amazon app to link their Amazon account so their purchase can be billed through the payment method linked in their Amazon account. The cart also has a weight sensor to weigh produce priced by weight. Some Amazon Fresh stores use "grab and go" technology similar to that in Amazon Go stores, which tracks what customers take and place back. It allows customers to skip conventional checkouts while also eliminating the need to use Dash Carts. Currently, there are no Amazon Fresh stores that use both "grab and go" and Dash Carts. Due to criticism regarding Amazon Go stores not accepting cash, some Amazon Fresh stores also have checkout lanes for customers who want to pay with cash or do not have an Amazon account.

References

External links