# This new "Amazon Fresh" service has huge buzz, is it going to put a serious hurt on grocery stores? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 6, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470 "2017-01-06T19:14:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/1 "2017-01-06T19:14:57Z")
I have Amazon Prime but I have not used this [Amazon Fresh service](https://www.amazon.com/AmazonFresh/b?ie=UTF8&node=10329849011), however I have now had two co-workers tell me within the last 2 weeks that their wives are crazy for this service as they can get premium items not usually found in our area grocery stores delivered overnight in special thermal bags. You leave the bags on the doorstep and the Post Office returns them to the Amazon Depot. They say it has cut their brick and mortar shipping in half or more. > [@](#): > > Welcome to AmazonFresh > > Skip the trip to the grocery store and spend more time doing the things you love with AmazonFresh grocery delivery service. We bring a wide selection of fresh groceries right to your home, and you can choose the most convenient delivery time for you. Place an order in the morning for same-day delivery or order your groceries in the evening and wake up to fresh strawberries, milk, eggs, and more - all on your doorstep. > > Looking for products and brands to fit your lifestyle? Shop our specialty stores featuring meals and snacks that are gluten-free, vegan, or organic. With our wide selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, we also make it easier to eat healthy. Find everything you need including apples, avocados, cherries, bananas, mangoes, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, and more. We also have pre-cut vegetables and prepared salads for when you are in a hurry, but craving something green. You’ll also find high quality chicken, pork, steak, and ground beef and your favorite brands, including Tyson, Applegate, Oscar Meyer, NatureRaised Farms, Aidells, Gorton’s, Butterball, Johnsonville, and more. Stay motivated and satisfied while you’re on the go with snacks from Yoplait, Chobani, Annie’s Homegrown, Fiber One, Nature Valley, Larabar, Sabra, and much more. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/2 "2017-01-06T19:33:21Z")
If money is no object, and your ego is so attached to brand names, go for it. I prefer to save money. I know what I want. I can shop anytime 24/7 at my local grocery store. Their food selection and quality are tops. Amazon will never beat any of that. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/3 "2017-01-06T19:48:56Z")
Back when my wife and I lived in Seattle, we were completely enthusiastic customers of Amazon Fresh. We did all of our shopping with them minus some incidental things that we either forgot to put in an order or needed on short notice. I did a price comparison back in the day and found that while AF was more expensive, it was not by _much_, and well worth the convenience of being able to shop piecemeal through the week by adding things to the online shopping list and then just having it magically arrive. We were both working long hours with after-work interests that just made the grocery shopping an undesirable task at the end of a long long day. Where the cost was less reasonable was when we’d get tempted by the pre-made items from local restaurants. That bill could really add up. If I recall correctly, Amazon delivered from the local Safeway distribution center. I only a couple of times had problems with the fresh items being less than excellent. And in each case, they replaced them nearly immediately via special delivery. I _ **really** _ miss that service. Probably the worst thing about moving. ETA: we never had to return the totes or bags via the post office. Amazon Fresh would just pick them up when they came with the next order. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/4 "2017-01-06T22:44:29Z")
One of my neighbors does Amazon Fresh. She’s got four kids under the age of 10 and no longer shops at _her_ supermarket since it changed hands and the prices went up. Haven’t seen her lately to ask her how she likes it. I’m curious, tbh. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/5 "2017-01-06T23:40:33Z")
Not available yet in my area. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/6 "2017-01-06T23:45:44Z")
1. A lot of regional grocery stores are now offering online grocery and many more will offer it. They could well be the winners in the online grocery war. 2. One wonders if this is going to be profitable for Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/7 "2017-01-07T01:15:02Z")
I can’t see doing it myself with any regularity; we buy too many weird ethnic groceries, and I’m too much of a control freak about things like choosing my own produce. And I couldn’t care less about high-end brands. And we have tons of awesome local grocery stores. However, I can totally see a niche for it, or several - people with not much spare time, people with small children that they don’t want to have to take grocery shopping, people without cars who don’t want to have to lug heavy grocery bags home on the bus, etc. And a local service somewhat like it (Peapod) totally saved my ass when I spent the better part of a year on crutches after leg surgery. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/8 "2017-01-07T01:37:04Z")
This could be a panacea for seniors, especially when homebound or in inclement weather. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/9 "2017-01-07T01:50:09Z")
AmazonFresh isn’t available for our area yet, but I’ve used PrimeNow for grocery items and have been extremely impressed. The prices are comparable to my grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/10 "2017-01-07T02:35:49Z")
I didn’t know this was a thing. I’ll probably use it once the weather gets really crappy here and there’s even more snow. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/11 "2017-01-07T03:15:37Z")
Judging from the Prime Pantry stuff we already handle I figure it will be no more than a tiny blip to local markets for at least 10 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/12 "2017-01-07T05:27:11Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Not available yet in my area. It’ll _never_ be available where I live, I imagine. Might be a thing in the big city for awhile, then it too will pass. Might maintain a small core customer base, like the Schwann’s Truck. (Who the fuck buys meat out of the back of a truck? 😕 ) Like **Duck** said, I’ve got a 24-hour store down the road (relatively close at only 12 miles!), with low prices and everything I want pretty much. I can have it\* RIGHT NOW!\* Well, after a ten-minute drive, that is. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/13 "2017-01-07T05:44:27Z")
One of the big supermarkets in the Northeast, Stop and Shop, has offered online ordering and delivery for several years now. Delivery was supposed to happen in a specific 1 or 2 hour window that you chose at checkout. Personally I wasn’t impressed, since I had to sit around for hours from the beginning of the delivery window until they showed up an hour or three later. Waiting for a delivery like that is a huge waste of time, since you can’t do anything that can’t be dropped at a moment’s notice. At the time my other option was walking to the grocery store a mile away, and I found that preferable to delivery. However, it looks like Amazon solved that problem by shipping everything in cooled bags. How well do they perform? Sure, anything will be fine sitting on a porch this time of year, but how about in July? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/14 "2017-01-07T06:28:12Z")
[QUOTE=astro;19901272Place an order in the morning for same-day delivery or order your groceries in the evening and wake up to fresh strawberries, milk, eggs, and more - all on your doorstep.[/QUOTE] I can’t see how that would work for the northern half of the USA. During winter, they’d all be frozen solid by the morning. To say nothing of items being stolen from your doorstep – that’s already a problem for UPS & FedEx deliveries in parts of the city. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/15 "2017-01-07T12:55:03Z")
I want to try it. Shopping on big shopping days for us takes up half the day with the farmer’s market then the grocery store with kin Jr in tow, that time is worth something to me, but the wife refuses to even consider it. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/16 "2017-01-07T13:47:59Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > AmazonFresh isn’t available for our area yet, but I’ve used PrimeNow for grocery items and have been extremely impressed. The prices are comparable to my grocery store. While for us, checking on PrimeNow prices finds stuff overpriced, sometimes ridiculously so. I can’t remember the exact price, but I checked a gallon of milk it was shockingly high. Just rechecked. They’ve changed their milk supplier. It’s now “only” $6.15 a gallon.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/17 "2017-01-07T13:54:04Z")
Looks like $15/month, plus higher prices. Although saving 2h/month of shopping time is attractive. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/18 "2017-01-07T14:05:25Z")
Online grocery shopping has become very big in the UK over the last few years. All the major supermarket chains (e.g. Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda) each have a service and it is very popular. I think people like that they can get the same items at the same prices as they used to, and the delivery is free for large enough orders. The main losers have not been the local grocery store but the larger out-of-town supermarkets - the same chains as are providing the online deliveries. Those chains have shifted their bricks-and-mortar focus to smaller neighbourhood stores with names like \Local or \Express. I don’t see that Amazon would do that well here as the existing brands are well established. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/19 "2017-01-07T16:32:49Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > However, it looks like Amazon solved that problem by shipping everything in cooled bags. How well do they perform? Sure, anything will be fine sitting on a porch this time of year, but how about in July? Never had a problem with things stayin cool. They have two kinds of bags, plain and insulated. The insulated bags usually arrived with frozen gel packs tossed in. I can only think of one time where I believe our delivery got stolen. Amazon replaced it free in very short order. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470/20 "2017-01-07T17:29:59Z")
With the sort of razor-thin margins that grocery stores typically operate on, having to replace a whole stolen shopping cart’s worth of stuff too frequently could be a significant problem. Typical retail, it ain’t. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-new-amazon-fresh-service-has-huge-buzz-is-it-going-to-put-a-serious-hurt-on-grocery-stores/776470.md?page=2)