Amazon launches ‘Pantry’ in UK: Same day grocery delivery to challenge many entrenched grocers

Online retail giant Amazon.com has expanded its rapid, one-day delivery service called Pantry to the UK market. Amazon is offering Pantry to members of its Prime program, which is the annual loyalty program worth US$99 (AU$140) and covers delivery of non-perishable food, drinks and household supplies in boxes with a maximum capacity of 20 kg.

Amazon began testing the ground for a full grocery delivery service in September in UK by adding a range of 60 chilled and frozen food items to its Prime Now delivery service operating in London and Birmingham.

Accordingly, Prime members can choose to fill a Pantry box from a list of 4,000 items, which include food and drink, household supplies, pet care and health and beauty products.

“Amazon Pantry has been designed to take the heavy lifting out of replenishing the often bulky basics and store cupboard essentials that people need every day,” Helene Parthenay, Amazon Pantry manager at Amazon UK, said in a statement.

Competition

Pantry’s expansion in the UK will be a turf challenge for many reigning grocer heavyweights including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons. Other rivals include those from the US such as Walmart and Whole Foods with their UK units.

Online grocery is a growing market channel though its profitability is questionable. According to industry research group IGD, the UK online grocery market will double to 17.2 billion pounds (AU$36.45 billion) by 2020. Amazon has announced that it will expand Prime program to more UK cities in the coming months.

Expansion

Amazon is also in the process of expanding perks to its prime members with offers of streaming video and music, one-day delivery, photo storage and free books among other services.

Meanwhile, Amazon is reportedly gearing to launch its full scale grocery service, AmazonFresh, in the UK by 2016 for offering fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy products and meat.

The most affected from Amazon’s aggressive drive into groceries will be the British supermarkets, which are already struggling to cope with rising competition from discounters like Aldi and Lidl and online shopping sites.

There are some entrenched online groceries in the UK, such as Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose. They may give tough competition to Amazon than what it had in the US market from rivals like Walmart and Whole Foods, reports The Guardian.

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