FILE - Amazon Fresh paper bags filled with groceries sit outside a customer’s door, part of the company’s expanding same-day delivery service for fresh and household items. (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - Amazon is expanding its same-day delivery service to include fresh groceries for Prime members, allowing customers to get milk, fruit, vegetables, and other perishables delivered within hours alongside items like electronics, books, and clothing.
The service, which launched Wednesday in more than 1,000 cities and towns including Raleigh, North Carolina; Milwaukee; and Columbus, Ohio, is free for Prime members on orders over $25. Amazon plans to double that footprint to over 2,300 cities and towns by the end of the year.
The company called the move "one of the most significant grocery expansions" in its history, integrating thousands of perishable items into its existing delivery network.
How Amazon’s grocery expansion works
For Prime members, orders under $25 come with a $2.99 same-day delivery fee. Customers who aren’t Prime members can use the service for $12.99 per order, regardless of size.
Until now, Prime grocery orders were fulfilled separately through Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods Market. The integration means customers can now fill a single cart with both fresh groceries and other products — from blueberries and frozen pizza to batteries and mystery novels — and have everything arrive within hours.
"We’re continuously innovating to make grocery shopping simpler, faster, and more affordable for our customers, especially Prime members," said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, in a statement.
What we know:
This expansion follows a year of testing in Phoenix and rollouts earlier this year in Orlando, Florida, and Kansas City, Missouri. Amazon said many customers trying the service were first-time Amazon grocery shoppers, and those who used it returned to shop twice as often as those who didn’t buy food.
Based on early sales data, strawberries now regularly rank among the top five best-selling items, often surpassing Apple’s AirPods. Other top perishables include bananas, Honeycrisp apples, limes, and avocados.
Amazon reported more than $100 billion in gross sales of groceries and household essentials last year, excluding Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh.
What we don't know:
These unanswered questions could shape how quickly customers adopt the service and how it competes with other grocery delivery options.
- Amazon hasn’t provided a detailed timeline for when each of the additional 1,300 cities will be added.
- The company hasn’t said whether the integration will change pricing or product selection at Whole Foods or Amazon Fresh.
- It’s unclear how the expansion will impact warehouse staffing or delivery driver schedules.
The backstory:
Amazon has long dominated online retail but has struggled to make fresh groceries a consistent profit center. Experts say the company’s previous separation of shelf-stable and perishable orders into different online carts confused customers.
Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis Groupe, called the expansion "a nice step forward" that makes Amazon more competitive in perishables.
The move also comes amid a $4 billion investment to triple the size of Amazon’s delivery network by 2026, with a focus on reaching more small towns and rural communities. The company said it’s using artificial intelligence to predict local preferences and stock items that will sell quickly in specific markets.
The Source: This report is based on information from Amazon, company statements, and the Associated Press.