Amazon bundles online shopping of groceries and non-food items

Dive Brief:

• Amazon announced Wednesday it has rolled out numerous initiatives that aim to streamline shopping for Prime members across its Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market storefronts. 
• Currently, the company is piloting a new feature in its Phoenix market that enables Prime members to shop for grocery items alongside Amazon.com products and have them delivered together. 
• Amazon is also diversifying its fulfillment operations by modifying 26 Amazon Fresh fulfillment centers to include popular Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods and Amazon.com products. The company is also building its first-ever automated micro-fulfillment center in a Pennsylvania Whole Foods store to bolster the location’s product assortment.

Dive Insight:

Amazon’s new initiatives will allow its Prime members to bundle orders of grocery and non-grocery items to cut down on customers needing to visit multiple retailers to finish shopping trips both in-store and online, according to the announcement. 

The trial Amazon is running in Phoenix allows Prime members to shop for grocery essentials, including fresh items, alongside Amazon.com goods and have them delivered together “in hours.” The capability also gives shoppers access to the usual same-day delivery speed and selection of multiple delivery windows.

Amazon plans to expand this model to more locations as it continues to “test and learn” and anticipates more customers will continue to opt for same-day delivery from Amazon for grocery shopping, per the press release. 

To make shopping across departments easier, Amazon is bringing a wider range of products to its Amazon Fresh fulfillment centers. The company has already modified 26 centers globally to offer a larger assortment of Whole Foods and Amazon.com goods so Prime shoppers can add everything they need to a single online order. This also allows Amazon to offer a larger span of price tiers, the announcement noted. 

Based on customer response, Amazon will continue to convert more fulfillment centers to this new model, according to the press release. 

A Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, Whole Foods is also adjusting fulfillment operations to broaden its in-store and online selection. The location will mark Amazon’s first automated micro-fulfillment center to supplement in-store goods with popular products from Amazon.com and Amazon Fresh, Amazon said. 

This change gives customers the option to buy online for delivery or pickup as well as shop in-store but also choose a wider array of products across various departments, the announcement noted. So, if a customer is shopping in the Whole Foods store and needs an item not carried on the shelf — like Pepsi — they can order it from the Amazon app and the product will be prepared in the backroom and available for the shopper to pick up at checkout. 

Amazon has continued to step up its grocery game in 2024, including rapidly growing its Amazon Fresh footprint, debuting a new private brand and launching two new grocery subscription plans just months apart.