UK rollout of Amazon Fresh delivery service expands further

Friday, June 9, 2017 - 11:25 by Simon Crisp

An additional 42 postcodes across the south of England are now eligible to order grocery deliveries from Amazon Fresh, the US retail giant’s emerging platform for buying food online.

City A.M. reports that areas in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire are now included in amongst the small but growing number of postcodes in the UK which are eligible for a Fresh delivery. Ever since the service was launched here almost a year ago, its rollout has been slow and steady as Amazon seeks to take on traditional supermarkets.

Tens of thousands of food items can be ordered from Amazon Fresh and delivery is free for Prime subscribers who buy at least £40 worth of products at a time, keeping it competitive with equivalent offerings from the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

Of course unlike established supermarkets, Amazon does not have a national bricks and mortar presence, so instead it has to work with a network of third party stores to offer click and collect alongside home delivery.

The biggest direct rival to Amazon Fresh is Ocado, the online grocery firm which has managed to secure a solid niche for itself in the UK. This week Ocado announced the striking of a new arrangement with a major retailer from mainland Europe, which will see its e-commerce tech adopted elsewhere.

Amazon spokesperson, Ajay Kavan, said that Fresh had managed to gather steam over the past 12 months, growing not just in the UK but also arriving in other markets worldwide, including Japan and Germany.

He said that customers who order their groceries from Amazon Fresh would be able to enjoy the kind of smooth, convenient experience that the company has offered for years in the broader online shopping marketplace.