
Amazon to Roll Out Grocery Delivery Service - andre3k1
http://mashable.com/2011/01/24/amazon-to-roll-out-grocery-delivery-service/
======
russell_h
_Clearly, customers’ being able to order everyday home items online and have
them delivered to their doors would put Amazon in further competition with
big-box retailers. As an online bookstore, Amazon has given companies like
Barnes & Noble and Borders a run for their money._

Am I the only one who checked the date on the article after seeing that?

------
Eliezer
Webvan! You came back! I thought you were dead! _(Sobs.)_

When Webvan died I literally had to _buy a car_ for the first time. It was
like I'd been part of an advanced civilization that collapsed. Seriously, they
should've tried charging higher prices before they gave up.

~~~
pclark
You should move to the UK. Ocado (amongst others) offers grocery deliveries
_that you can order from your iPhone or iPad_

~~~
arethuza
Don't all the major UK supermarket chains provide online ordering and
delivery?

~~~
pclark
Yes, but I am an Ocado shill. (just kidding, didn't realise everyone offered
it. Not in the target market.)

------
retube
Amazon launched grocery deliveries in the UK a few months back - and to pretty
mixed reviews. Amazon are using third parties to supply the goods, so one
grocery order might be 4 or 5 separate deliveries. As a result the general
view was a) it's expensive as you're having to pay shipping costs for each
supplier (some comparisons of a typical basket were double the cost of getting
it from Tesco or Sainsbury) 2) it generates a large amount of waste as each
order is in separate packaging and c) it's really inconvenient having to be in
for all these deliveries.

So basically a big thumbs down.

------
marcc
Awesome. I see yummy.com vans all around Santa Monica, but would love for a
big player like Amazon to come in and validate this space. The article lists
$2.50 for a single grapefruit as an indicator that the pricing will be high.
I'd love to see a comparison. $2.50 for a grapefruit in mid January in Seattle
might be a normal price for all I know. Show me pricing on staples like bread,
flour, cereal, pasta.

~~~
TomOfTTB
I'd also like to see a comparison but I tend to think Amazon is charging a
high price.

The thing I keep thinking is both WebVan and HomeGrocer blew threw billions
and eventually imploded (WebVan bought HomeGrocer and then Amazon bought
WebVan and re-purposed it as a regular online store). The argument always
given was that grocery margins are already razor thin so a company that
delivers groceries can't make enough to stay alive.

So maybe that's how Amazon is surviving in Seattle right now. Offering a great
convenience at a premium price.

~~~
SoftwareMaven
If you haven't read the entire story of WebVan, it is worth it. Their problems
stemmed from far more than just razor thin grocery margins and had much more
to do with late-90's, bubble-fed hubris than anything else.

Unfortunately, WebVan scared anybody off from making a serious investment in
it, even though they never actually invalidated the market. If anybody can
make it work, it will be Amazon; and if they start succeeding, I can't imagine
it will take long for Walmart to follow.

~~~
TomOfTTB
Is there a full story of WebVan posted somewhere? I've read bits and pieces
along with actually being in the Valley at the time but I'd be interested in
knowing more.

------
latch
I know this might come off soapbox-ish, but I think preconception people have
about your product/service can be helpful in identifying your message.

I like eating well+healthy and spending 20 minutes every couple days to buy
fresh products seems like a small investment in both my body and wallet. There
are things that having money is supposed to help us sweep under the rug - I'll
never move anything bigger/heavier than a box from one house to another again.
Nutrition shouldn't be one of those things. Nutrition and health should be one
of those things that having all the spare money/time lets us get more, not
less, involved in. The investment is moreso important if you have a family.

The fundamentals of nutrition, say how to pick a melon or how to understand
nutritional labels, is as lacking as the fundamentals of personal finance.
These delivery services can do well by specific groups (say the elderly), but
in general, I worry that they'll make us further ignorant about nutrition.

~~~
SoftwareMaven
I find myself on my iPhone, hoping my 3G will work through the store walls,
doing research as I shop. I would love to be able to do that research from
home. I would be able to plan better, because I would know specifically what
was on the shelves instead of making a list of generics and filling it in at
the store.

To me, this sounds like a step in the right direction.

~~~
jseifer
If it was made by man then it's probably not good for you (exceptions: butter,
coconut/olive oil). If you can't pronounce the name of an ingredient it's
probably bad for you as well.

~~~
Evgeny
_If it was made by man then it's probably not good for you_

I recently decided that it's the best and surest way to explain my eating
habits to other people. Using words like 'lipid hypothesis', 'good and bad
cholesterol', 'insulin response' or even something as simple as 'paleo diet'
just makes peoples' eyes glaze over.

------
dmnd
I've been using Amazon Tote for a few months now. I didn't realise it was
'supposed' to be for groceries. There's a big selection of items that are
available via Tote - I suspect it's everything Amazon has in it's local
warehouse. The benefit for me is that shipping becomes free on all items, as
long as I'm prepared to wait for the twice-weekly Tote drop day.

Also, they have never taken back the bags I left out for them. They are great
for toting around board games though.

------
mkconor
New Yorkers pay taxes on Amazon purchases. There are two or three other state
where Amazon purchases are taxed as well. New York would be an ideal market
for Amazon Fresh. Fresh Direct has whetted consumers' appetite for grocery
delivery service while committing enough errors that Amazon could easily use
their brand to gain significant market share.

------
shalmanese
The reason why Amazon has thus far restricted Amazon Fresh to Seattle is
because having vans in other cities would constitute a "business presence"
which would then subject all of Amazon to sales tax in that state.

~~~
mlinsey
Are you sure? As I understand it, Amazon Fresh LLC is a separate legal entity,
just like Lab 126 and A9, both of which are based in California.

~~~
buss
I'm not sure about that. A9 and Lab126 don't share office space with the rest
of Amazon, but Fresh is right in my building.

------
extension
Upstream:
[http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bb320f30-2715-11e0-80d7-00144feab4...](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bb320f30-2715-11e0-80d7-00144feab49a.html)

(If you get the regwall, try entering the URL into Google and clicking the
first result)

Hot _damn_ have I got my pom poms on for this.

I'm getting mighty sick of the small selection of mostly junk at my one
neighborhood supermarket, not to mention trudging out there in the bitter
cold, finding they're out of my favorite snack, rummaging to find the latest
expiry date, waiting in the checkout line, scrambling to cram everything in my
bag, aaaand awkward interactions with pimply teenagers.

If this existed, I would eat much healthier, tastier, and cheaper.

And presumably, once Amazon has their own daily delivery network, they'll use
it to ship all their other stuff overnight for free.

C'mon, if we can deliver hot pizza in 30 minutes then we can do fresh
groceries in 24 hours.

~~~
rwmj
Every supermarket in the UK has a home delivery service, and has done for at
least 5-10 years. I'm really surprised this isn't the case in the US [assuming
you are in the US].

~~~
klbarry
It is very rare in NYC outside of Manhattan, at least and when I've seen it
the selection has been fairly horribly neutered.

------
olalonde
For those who haven't heard of Webvan:

Webvan was an online "credit and delivery" grocery business that went bankrupt
in 2001. [...] Webvan as one of the greatest dotcom disasters in history.
[...] now owned and operated by Amazon.com.[1]

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webvan>

------
klous
If you're in Chicago or other covered areas out east, Peapod has been
delivering groceries for a while.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peapod#Current_Locations>

~~~
smackfu
Yeah, the Stop & Shop tie-in here in CT works just fine. They even use the
same weekly discounts as the real supermarket. I couldn't drive for a bit
after an accident and it was invaluable to me. Amazon shouldn't even bother
trying to compete here.

------
meterplech
There have been a few attempts in this space, but I would love Amazon to
succeed here. I wonder if this is timed because of their purchase of
Diaper.com/Soap.com. That business had a true understanding of how to sort and
deliver merchandize. Seems like this would be a great way to leverage that
knowledge combined with Amazon's inventory.

Previous HN discussions: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1427668>
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1877916>

------
jarin
I've used Vons grocery delivery plenty of times in the past ($10-15 delivery
charge, drivers not allowed to take tips), with pretty decent results.

If Amazon can improve on Vons' clunky ordering process and other problems
(limited selection, substituted items can be way off and can change the total
price quite a bit sometimes, fruit/veggies are sometimes bruised or not fresh)
and keep their costs down, I think they will probably have a good shot at
making it work.

------
Semiapies
If this pans out, then what I've been telling people for the last few years is
true - we've hit the point in time when all the failed computing and internet
ideas of the mid-late 90s can work out. Voice apps, PDAs, and now internet
groceries?

------
jamesteow
Surprised no one here has chimed in with their experience with FreshDirect.

------
wiredfool
I'd be much more excited if Trader Joes did it. A lot of their stuff is
already packaged/frozen, so it's just a small matter of taking the orders and
shipping logistics.

~~~
InclinedPlane
Amazon in its entirety could be considered just a "small matter" of taking
orders and shipping logistics.

Note: in practice neither of these things is a small matter.

------
fireix
Sears does this already with their mygofer.com service.

------
curtisspope
Kozmo.. er WebVan... Grocery Delivery is making a comeback

------
epynonymous
what i didn't get from reading the article: is amazon procuring its own
groceries or is it just providing delivery for stop and shop?

------
InclinedPlane
Don't get too worked up about this, it's just an unsubstanitated rumor based
on some very flimsy speculation.

~~~
nika
You're right. The fact that Amazon is running two trial services (fresh and
tote) in the Seattle area does not substantiate the headline claim that amazon
is going to roll out a grocery service nationwide.

Skepticism is merited here.

------
araneae
I'm having flashbacks to the dot com bubble.

~~~
angdis
Yep. You're thinking of kozmo. There was even a documentary made about the
rise and spectacular fall of kozmo back in 2000. It was sort of a web-driven
urban delivery service.

Amazon might be able to pull this off in some markets. It probably makes sense
for folks with mobility issues.

I see it almost as an extension to mechanical turk.

