Amazon's Drive-Up Grocery Stores Are Now Open To the Public In Seattle (theverge.com)

Amazon has opened two drive-up grocery stores to the public that will allow Amazon Prime subscribers to place an online order and choose a two-hour pickup window for when they'd like to drive over and retrieve it. The Verge reports: Despite the stores being called "AmazonFresh Pickup," a membership to the company's home delivery grocery service isn't required. But if you do pay for AmazonFresh (an extra $14.99 per month on top of Prime's usual cost), your groceries will be ready within 15 minutes. Regular Prime customers have to wait at least two hours before the earliest pickup window becomes available. According to The Seattle Times, the first time you visit one of the two AmazonFresh Pickup locations, a concierge will enter your name and vehicle's license plate number into Amazon's systems. That way, during subsequent visits a license plate reader will automatically identify you and signal to employees that they should bring your order out to your car. The Times notes that this license plate scanning can be disabled from Amazon's website.

Comments

AmazonFresh

[DontBeAMoran]

Of course it's fresh! It was packaged and frozen right after it was picked!

How is this news?

[Barny]

Supermarkets have been doing online shop&collect for quite a few years here (with no cost overhead), and delivery of groceries (for free in some circumstances).

Re:How is this news?

[110010001000]

This is in the Cloud.

Re:How is this news?

[jedidiah]

So I fly my Jeston's space car to the grocery then?

I'd rather just drive my truck to Walmart or Safeway.

Re:How is this news?

[lannocc]

This is in the Cloud.

That's Seattle for ya.

Re: How is this news?

[Anonymous Coward]

This is not new at all this is just an amazon advertisement...

Re:How is this news?

[StormReaver]

Same here. We order online at our local grocery store, and they give us a 2-hour window during which they will deliver our groceries. There is a small threshold above which the delivery is free, and below which there is a five dollar charge. Since we always order above the threshold, our deliveries are always free.

Amazon is quite late to the party, and offers nothing of value. In fact, Amazon's offering is a step backwards by comparison.

Re:How is this news?

[Anonymous Coward]

They are doing it with rounded corners!

Re:How is this news?

[WillAffleckUW]

This is in the Cloud.

That's Seattle for ya.

No, it's sunny this week. No clouds.

Re:How is this news?

[TheStickBoy]

Its news because it is Amazon doing it.

True, this isn't a new concept. but when Amazon starts to take business away from many on brick and mortar stores including the giant that is Walmart....this new Amazon grocery service is important news for all other grocery stores. Especially when Amazon may have more resources behind them or just simply....do it better.

Disruptive!

[Anonymous Coward]

How disruptive!

Wait... Haven't supermarkets being doing this for several years now?

Re: Disruptive!

[Anonymous Coward]

I think our local safeway had a "senddial" service over 30 years ago that was about the same. Just for seniors or disabled people though.

Walmart already has this. Almost no one uses it

[Anonymous Coward]

Local walmart has had this for about 6 months (with heavy promotion) and has about 10 prime parking spots reserved for people using it. In that time I've seen about 3 people using it (and yes I go to walmart depressingly often). The rest of the time the spots are wasted or occupied by the empty cars of people who weren't too agoraphobic to walk 50 feet into a store they had already driven to and buy groceries.

Apart from invalids and people who fetishize having others serve them, I don't really understand what kind of person this appeals to. This is how grocery stores worked in the 1800's until Piggly Wiggly came along and showed everybody how much better self-service was for everyone involved.

Re:Walmart already has this. Almost no one uses it

[jedidiah]

This could appeal to anyone that doesn't want to set foot in Walmart (et al) for whatever reason.

This isn't any more "fetish" material than a any delivery service including normal Amazon.

This certainly beats needing to deal with crowds of idiots that view grocery shopping as entertainment and bring their whole families along and clutter the whole place up.

If you have a set shopping list, it's much less bother.

Re:Walmart already has this. Almost no one uses it

[Anonymous Coward]

So crippling social phobias and misanthropy, basically.

Re:Walmart already has this. Almost no one uses it

[Anonymous Coward]

Except you forget that Walmart has a lot more stores near you than Amazon does. It won't be much longer and Walmart is going to start kicking some Amazon ass with home delivery. Just watch.

Re:Walmart already has this. Almost no one uses it

[lucm]

It won't be much longer and Walmart is going to start kicking some Amazon ass with home delivery. Just watch.

Not going to happen. Home delivery requires huge upfront investments and offers razor-thin margins. Amazon was willing to sink billions in building their delivery pipeline; Walmart would never make that kind of gamble. It doesn't matter how many hubs or trucks they have; fulfilling individual orders is a very tedious process, it's completely different from shipping palettes upon palettes of the same shit. And it's even worse in the grocery business because food goes bad real quick. Losses losses losses.

Re:Walmart already has this. Almost no one uses it

[DrXym]

This could appeal to someone who is so fucking lazy they can't even spend 10 minutes of their time to pick their own groceries. Instead they get some disinterested drone to fulfill their shopping, not giving a damn in the slightest if the bread is stale, fruit is mouldy, meat is fatty, tins dented, cartons leaking, expiration due etc.

And yes it's completely different from standard Amazon shopping. Amazon mostly sells mass produced items, each the same as the next. Groceries are perishable goods and vary substantially from one unit to the next, particular for fresh and frozen produce.

Re:Walmart already has this. Almost no one uses it

[Anonymous Coward]

And that's why Walmart will just wait for someone else to build the infrastructure, fail because a lack of customers, and sell out for pennies on the dollar. Then they connect it to their existing customer base and watch the cash roll in.

Re:Walmart already has this. Almost no one uses it

[lucm]

That's plain wrong. The challenge here is not "the infrastructure" - everyone can build a warehouse - it's the cost-effective business processes. That cannot be acquired from a fire sale.

Disable the scanning for whom?

[omnichad]

license plate scanning can be disabled from Amazon's website.

So the scanner will scan your license plate and then know that you're not supposed to get scanned. Got it.

Or maybe it's a big on/off button that everyone gets to fight over. You turn it on, then I log in and turn it back off.

Re:Disable the scanning for whom?

[DogDude]

If you're shopping with Amazon, you've already decided that privacy is not on your list of priorities.

Paying to pick up?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why the fuck would I an extra $15 on top of the cost of prime to drive myself to a store to get groceries? You can do that already and probably save more with a normal store. They're already making money on harvesting data ffs. I get this concept will only work in upscaled gentrified places.

"Fresh"

[DrXym]

So the proposition is you pay a heap of money for someone to shop for you. This person doesn't give a damn about freshness because they're being Amazon micromanaged. They don't care if the tins are dented, or meat is going brown or contains tubes, or if the milk carton is leaking, or the bread has a few days before its stale since they're not the ones who're going to eat it. After working a whole shift fulfilling lazy assholes, they probably hope you choke on it.

Frankly I wonder who this service is even meant for.

Re:"Fresh"

[fluffernutter]

The question in my mind is who the less-than-perfect apples go to. Someone has to get them. Will they complain? Will they have to be discarded?

Re:"Fresh"

[Dutch Gun]

the tins are dented, or meat is going brown or contains tubes, or if the milk carton is leaking, or the bread has a few days before its stale

If this is your shopping experience, than perhaps it says more about the quality of your local grocery store than about Amazon's new store. I've never seen anything like that in the Seattle-area QFC I regularly shop at, perhaps aside from the occasional slightly-dented can (the horror!).

Frankly I wonder who this service is even meant for.

People with more money than time? People with physical impairments or temporary injuries that limit mobility? Amazon employees?

I have no interest in this service, as I don't mind picking out my own groceries, but I hardly think a lack of quality will be a real factor in its success or failure. Amazon has already demonstrated the basics of this service with Amazon Fresh.

Re:"Fresh"

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's your answer.

Re:"Fresh"

[avandesande]

People fear dented cans because it is a sign of botulism. Of course that's highly unlikely and it's probably just a dent but the irrational fear is still there.

Re:"Fresh"

[DrXym]

If this is your shopping experience, than perhaps it says more about the quality of your local grocery store than about Amazon's new store. I've never seen anything like that in the Seattle-area QFC I regularly shop at, perhaps aside from the occasional slightly-dented can (the horror!).

No, it's the experience of every supermarket. You probably just don't notice it because if you shop for yourself you automatically and subconsciously choose the best from the selection - oh that shampoo has a cracked top, I'll choose another, oh that apple has a mark I'll pick the other apple. Even the best supermarket doesn't just toss stuff because it's knocked around a bit. They wait for somebody to buy it, or they foist it onto their home delivery customers, or write it off as spoilage. If you let some minimum wage worker choose your basket they won't give a rat's ass what they're dumping in the cart.

People with more money than time? People with physical impairments or temporary injuries that limit mobility? Amazon employees?

Unless Amazon store is psychic you must still browse what items you want to be there when you drive to pick them up. And at that point, how much time have you actually saved? A couple of minutes tops. And in return you've forfeit the ability to choose product, compare etc.

I very much doubt disabled people appreciate having to drive to a store either, hardly a great experience. And Amazon employees would only bother if they're getting a discount of some kind, or an implied threat of another kind.

Re:"Fresh"

[demonlapin]

Botulism causes cans to expand. Dents are just dents.

Re:"Fresh"

[demonlapin]

Typically, they are what makes up the ready-to-go stuff. Those cut up apples? They had a brown spot on one side, so no sale, but the other half is just fine. The rotisserie chickens? All the ones that were going to have to be marked down for quick sale end up there. The chicken salad? That's yesterday's rotisserie chicken. Supermarkets recycle a lot.

Re:"Fresh"

[Anonymous Coward]

Unless Amazon store is psychic

You know they're basically trying to get there over time.

you must still browse [...] And at that point, how much time have you actually saved? A couple of minutes tops.

In my house, we suffer from active yelling toddler syndrome. Unless the current time lines up with a break in his eat and sleep schedule and we have enough energy, we're not leaving the house, so a lot of time is spent with at least one person sitting on the couch intermittently paying attention to the child when he needs or ignoring him when he plays. Because of this, being able to shop for food in 1-minute increments while on the couch actually saves way more time than you might expect.

In the end, though, we just put that energy towards online delivery, because dealing with the jackets, car seat, and driving is enough of a time sink in itself.

Pickup vs delivery

[spinitch]

In store allows selecting quality produce but need to park, pick, stand in line. Delivery means waiting when swinging by for a quick pickup easier to time, such as on way home. Having all 3 options convenient especially depending on location. Still not tried Prime Fresh due to higher cost and have 3 grocery stores within 1km to my home. Like Amazon for heavy bulky stuff that do not need to quickly or stuff not nearby. Think Amazon offering in select areas can compliment their other offerings and maybe pull in non Walmart operations. Amazon will model the economics and optimize accordingly. 7-11 (&i) convenience stores offer delivery in Tokyo by bicycle or scooters. Bad weather more tempting to use.

That's nothing

[avandesande]

Where I live there are walk through pharmacies at every corner!

so what?

[WillAffleckUW]

there are tons of grocery stores all over Seattle. This is just two.

Most offer this kind of service already. They even deliver it to your homes at a preset time, which is what that Amazon Fresh does.

Summary Fail

[Agripa]

The article says, "This type of automatic license-plate check-in can be turned off on Amazon’s website." So the check-in feature can be disabled but your license plate is still scanned.