Delivery from Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods now free for Prime members
Amazon Prime members who live in areas where Amazon delivers groceries can now get their groceries delivered for free from Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh.
Previously, Prime members — who already pay $119 per year or $12.99 per month for that membership — had to pay an additional $14.99 per month to use the Amazon Fresh delivery service.
The blog post in which Amazon announced the change suggested that the newly free service will take some time to fully roll out.
“Given the rapid growth of grocery delivery we expect this will be a popular benefit, so today Prime members currently shopping grocery delivery can continue enjoying these services,” the company wrote in the post. “All other Prime members who live in one of the more than 2,000 cities and towns where grocery delivery is available can request an invitation to shop Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods Market delivery — we’ll alert you when you are able to shop.”
Amazon plans to continue expanding its grocery delivery and pickup services to more locations, according to the post.
The company is emphasizing speed along with availability, touting one-hour and two-hour options in most Amazon Fresh cities.
Amazon also made mention in its post that consumers can shop Whole Foods using the Amazon site or app.
The move is one more indication of Amazon’s determination to become a major player in the grocery landscape.
Walmart, which has been scaling its online grocery services in order to compete with Amazon, offers free grocery pickup from nearly 3,000 locations. In addition, Walmart recently announced that by the end of the year more than 1,600 stores will offer shoppers the option to pay $98 per year — or $12.95 per month — for unlimited grocery deliveries.
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