Amazon Prime Is Now Offering Grocery Pickup, But They’re ‘Late To The Game’

While Amazon (AMZN) announced on Wednesday that all of its Whole Foods stores will begin offering curbside pickup for grocery orders of $35 or more, the retailer is one of the last grocers to offer the service, trailing behind its rivals.

The free service provides curbside grocery pickup in as little as one hour for Prime members by using the Amazon app or the Amazon website, which the e-commerce giant said will provide orders in just one-minute of arriving at a Whole Foods store prior to checking in.

The service does accelerate Amazon’s foothold in the grocery market, but it may be too little, too late for the company. Grocers such as Kroger, Aldi, Harris Teeter, Publix, Sam’s Club, Target, Walmart, Wegmans, H-E-B, and Meijer have been offering curbside pickup for some time, many before the pandemic even started.

Steve Cain, a retail expert and partner at Bain & Co., told CNBC that Amazon “is late to the game. They’re really trying to catch up here with those who have been at this for a while.”

Amazon said the coronavirus pandemic “accelerated the adoption of online grocery services and promoted new customers to try services like grocery pickup.” But several grocers already jumped on the opportunity long before Amazon started offering the service at all of its Whole Foods stores in the U.S.

The pandemic acted as a catalyst for consumers to try curbside pickup as they looked for contactless ways to shop for essentials. Whole Foods only offered curbside pickup at select stores prior to the nationwide rollout by Amazon. The retailer expanded the service to 120 stores during the pandemic, but still, many consumers were left without the option at several locations across the U.S., CNBC said.

Amazon, which acquired Whole Foods in 2017, has 487 stores in the U.S., compared to its biggest competitor Walmart, which has at least 4,700 locations, CNBC said. The company, however, said it will continue offering its free, two-hour delivery service for Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods orders for Prime members.

Shares of Amazon were trading at $3,187 as of premarket open, up $10.60 or 0.33%.