Amazon.com will now deliver Whole Foods Market Inc. staples like hummus, almond butter and wine — along with meat, seafood and florals — directly to homes in the Central Florida area.
Amazon said Wednesday that its Prime Now service, which already offers one- and two-hour delivery in Orlando, now will deliver Whole Foods Market items from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. A membership to Amazon's Prime program is required for Prime Now delivery.
The new offering is one of the most visible and potentially significant changes Amazon has made since acquiring Whole Foods in 2017. Online sales are a small percentage of the overall grocery market — 5 percent in the U.S., according to Brick Meets Click — but that number is projected to grow much faster than in-store sales.
A move to online grocery shopping will affect commercial real estate. Physical grocery stores will be smaller — a shift that's already occurring — and be built to accommodate delivery vehicles. Both Lakeland-based Publix Super MarketsInc. and Walmart Inc., the two dominant grocers in Florida, have invested heavily in online ordering infrastructure. Publix has a formal relationship with delivery service Instacart; Walmart (NYSE: WMT) constantly is expanding its online pickup options and delivers from a few stores in Orlando via Uber.
Orlando is one of 10 markets where Amazon announced Whole Foods via Prime Now delivery on Wednesday. It will also offer the service in Ann Arbor and Detroit, Mich.; Madison and Milwaukee, Wis.; Omaha, Neb.; Jacksonville and Tampa; St. Louis; and Tulsa, Okla., and expand its service area in New York City and Seattle.
The delivery service in the Orlando area includes select alcohol, Amazon said.
No comments:
Post a Comment