# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 1:06pm 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/776470/61 "2017-01-09T13:06:15Z")
No. I get put into a rocket that is supposed to launch but instead rises majestically poised for the heavens to an altitude of 341 feet, then explodes in a manner unique to liquid oxygen. ===:o Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 1:21pm 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/776470/62 "2017-01-09T13:21:07Z")
I’m going to ask again as I don’t see a response to my question. Are there no cats, skunks, squirrels, stray dogs or raccoons where you live? What keeps them from getting into the fresh vegetables and meat products sitting over night on the stoop? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 3:42pm 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/776470/63 "2017-01-09T15:42:00Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Not saying any of this applies to you; for all I know you feed your five kids from Trader Joe’s. I always found it far too expensive except for one-some and two-some meals, rare in a household of five to eight. Are you sure you’re not confusing Trader Joe’s with Whole Foods? In my experience Trader Joe’s is cheaper or the same price as regular supermarket items, especially when you’re using their store brand versus a name brand. I mean, one of the things they’re best known for is the “Three Buck Chuck,” wine that costs $3/bottle but is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 6:50pm 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/776470/64 "2017-01-09T18:50:05Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I’m going to ask again as I don’t see a response to my question. > > Are there no cats, skunks, squirrels, stray dogs or raccoons where you live? > > What keeps them from getting into the fresh vegetables and meat products sitting over night on the stoop? I use Amazonfresh for 80% of my household groceries. I don’t know why you would have things sitting on your stoop. Normally I get an email about 3 am that my items are out for delivery so at most there would be a 4 hour window they were sitting there but since my dogs bark when they drop off the groceries and wake up the household I normally got with 7-10 and I bring everything in right after it arrives. For us it’s been awesome not only can I shop right off recipes that I want to cook for the week but since we live on the third floor I don’t have to haul all of my groceries upstairs. In the last 6 months we’ve been doing this every time we’ve priced checked them its come out about even with our local Ralphs the biggest down side is their selection is lower but I figure that’s what we pay for the convenience of ordering groceries before we go to bed and putting them away when we wake up. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 7:01pm 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/776470/65 "2017-01-09T19:01:25Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Are you sure you’re not confusing Trader Joe’s with Whole Foods? In my experience Trader Joe’s is cheaper or the same price as regular supermarket items, especially when you’re using their store brand versus a name brand. I mean, one of the things they’re best known for is the “Three Buck Chuck,” wine that costs $3/bottle but is pretty good. Depends what you’re shopping for, I suppose. Staples are the same price, but TJ does have a selection of expensive “gourmet” ingredients that aren’t stocked in basic supermarkets. Their prepared frozen food, which is most of what I shop for at TJ, is more expensive than the cheapest Banquet dinners and 50 cent frozen burritos at Walmart. But you can also find more expensive name brand or “natural” frozen foods in a normal supermarket, and TJ beats many of those brands on price and quality (in my opinion). ---
**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 9, 2017, 7:35pm 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/776470/66 "2017-01-09T19:35:06Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > It depends on your grocery shopping habits. If the rather pricey TJ’s is on your regular rounds, the prices might seem quite reasonable. If you shop at more ordinary groceries, they might seem rather high. > > **All reasons and discussion aside, I don’t see it ever being anything but a niche service, and serving mostly couples/small families of above-average income.** I guess you missed where I said we’re budget-conscious. I shop where I save the most money, which means I look at the ads for the local grocery stores every week. So you’re wrong about it serving those with above-average income. I don’t even know what “average” is, but I doubt we’re even there. I balance price, quality and convenience. This isn’t a niche business, either. With tech-savvy seniors aging, it will only become more popular, as long as a company providing this service doesn’t get greedy or unreliable. Certainly, it won’t put grocery stores out of business, but the market is there. I don’t understand your resistance to even considering this might be a viable business model. AmazonFresh has been around since 2007 and has been slowly expanding since then. Amazon’s been cautious with it, so if they thought it was going to fail they would’ve axed it. > **[Amazon Fresh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AmazonFresh)** > > Amazon Fresh is a subsidiary of the American e-commerce company Amazon in Seattle, Washington. It is a grocery retailer with physical stores and delivery services in some U.S. cities, as well as some international cities, such as Berlin, Hamburg, London, Milan, Munich, Rome, and some other locations in Singapore and India. > Amazon Fresh was initially a delivery service. In 2020 the concept changed to a chain of physical, cashier-less supermarkets. > Amazon Fresh started in 2007 as an invite-on... ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 7:51pm 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/776470/67 "2017-01-09T19:51:47Z")
I totally see that it’s working awesome for you, and many more people I’m certain. But I’m uncertain how a 3am email will be helpful to me, to be honest. I understand if it’s only out for four hours max, and that’s cool for you. But I still don’t get what keeps the local wildlife from investigating during those four hours? So what’s going on? Aren’t there raccoons? No cats? Squirrels? Because where I live the squirrels get into the garbage bags and I put them out an hour before pickup! But not a single happy customer seems to have had an issue! That surprises me and makes me curious about it. That’s why I was asking. ---
**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 9, 2017, 8:22pm 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/776470/68 "2017-01-09T20:22:24Z")
Helena330: if Amazon Fresh were actually profitable they would be expanding it at a vastly greater rate than they have been. elbows: an option would be a parcel delivery box, big enough to hold not only Amazon Fresh deliveries but also Fedex, UPS, etc deliveries. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 10:22pm 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/776470/69 "2017-01-09T22:22:06Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > But not a single happy customer seems to have had an issue! That surprises me and makes me curious about it. That’s why I was asking. Oh I don’t find the email helpful I was mainly using it to create an upper bound for how long things could sit. The bags have a fairly sturdy velcro closure system that will at least hold the we8ght of the bag so maybe 20 lbs. I don’t have those kind of animal issues so I really don’t know. If you’re that worried they will do attended delivery at night or I think down to 6 am. Besides that I just have them drop it off in a three hour window. I’ve certainly had problems with the service. Once a jar of BBQ sauce broke in transit and covered the bags everything else was in in sauce and on my last order they didn’t have the chicken I ordered so they replaced it with a different brand for free. But really the biggest problem has already been mentioned. I just did my shopping for the week so I’ve got 6 of their containers to store in my tiny apartment until next week. For now we stick it in the baby’s room but that option will eventually go away and I don’t know what we’ll do besides shop more often to minimize our number of bags. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 10:59pm 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/776470/70 "2017-01-09T22:59:46Z")
I’m not allowed to look at the prices, because I can’t think of a zip code that is eligible. They are not available yet here, and not even in Houston. But it looks to me like it is just another yuppie niche, for people who gloat about their time being to valuable to spend shopping. Nearly everything I buy is either fresh produce (which I look at and sort through and buy when it is a good price), or store-brand products, which I bet they don’t have much of. The $15 a month membership is about 20% of my normal grocery bill, not even counting the hundred bucks up front. About half the shoppers at my neighborhood grocery are EBT users, let’s see if they accept those. ---
**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 9, 2017, 11:48pm 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/776470/71 "2017-01-09T23:48:32Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I’m not allowed to look at the prices, because I can’t think of a zip code that is eligible. They are not available yet here, and not even in Houston… > > About half the shoppers at my neighborhood grocery are EBT users, let’s see if they accept those. Dallas would be the closest to you. So I looked up Dallas zipcodes and the first I found is 75201. So you go to Amazon Fresh and enter 75201 and get “Fresh is Available in 75201” > **[Amazon Fresh Groceries](https://www.amazon.com/fmc/storefront?almBrandId=QW1hem9uIEZyZXNo)** > > Same-day grocery delivery - convenient 2-hour windows. **Amazon to accept food stamps for online grocery orders in select states through federal pilot program** [http://www.geekwire.com/2017/amazon-to-accept-food-stamps-for-online-grocery-orders-in-select-states-through-federal-pilot-program/](http://www.geekwire.com/2017/amazon-to-accept-food-stamps-for-online-grocery-orders-in-select-states-through-federal-pilot-program/) ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 12:38am 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/776470/72 "2017-01-10T00:38:10Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > … You think POS ( Point Of Sale ) retailers have balked at and ultimately refused to spend the $$$ to get credit card Chip Reader Terminals installed and activated? ( Even though this is Federal law ) …l] Cite please that this is federal law, or any law. AFAIK is is all part of the agreement between the credit card companies and the merchants and not a law in any way. If a merchant chooses not to use the chip reader they are responsible for fraud. ---
**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 10, 2017, 12:41am 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/776470/73 "2017-01-10T00:41:41Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > I just did my shopping for the week so I’ve got 6 of their containers to store in my tiny apartment until next week. For now we stick it in the baby’s room but that option will eventually go away and I don’t know what we’ll do besides shop more often to minimize our number of bags. It was worse when they only used the big totes. It got better when they switched to the insulated bags. I found that they would often cruise by on the way to other deliveries in my neighborhood and grab my totes if I left them out. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 4:01am 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/776470/74 "2017-01-10T04:01:44Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > What keeps people from snatching it off your porch, like a Christmas package? It happens a lot with other things. And how will it not become a thing as this becomes more widespread? While pranksters are an issue, there really isn’t a seco. The amount of work that it’d take to connect to the few people who are interested in black market food isn’t going to be worth whatever money you can get from some celery and Ritz crackers. > [@](#): > > And what if it takes off wildly and puts the local groceries out of business? And if it takes off wildly, how can it not? Now what? Don’t they kind of own your ass? Can’t they now send you anything, demand any price? Not a lot of things actually get better, if you’ve noticed. Whereas lots of things start out awesome and then start to suck. LOTS of things! The same thing that keeps brick and mortar supermarkets from doing that – Competition. My area has probably a half dozen ways to get groceries delivered. ---
**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 10, 2017, 4:06am 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/776470/75 "2017-01-10T04:06:57Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > The amount of work that it’d take to connect to the few people who are interested in black market food isn’t going to be worth whatever money you can get from some celery and Ritz crackers. Presumably they would eat it, not fence it. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 4:22am 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/776470/76 "2017-01-10T04:22:49Z")
“And pick up a few groceries on the way home!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 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/776470/77 "2017-01-10T05:44:13Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Dallas would be the closest to you. So I looked up Dallas zipcodes and the first I found is 75201. Of course. Dallas is a yuppie town, and Houston is not. I rest my case. [Previous 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=3)