(Adds details on service, background)
July 28 (Reuters) - Amazon will begin free and
same-day deliveries of groceries in London for its 'Prime'
members from Tuesday, as it looks to cash in on fast-growing
demand for buying essentials online, a trend that has been
boosted by the coronavirus lockdown.
Customers with a 'Prime' subscription can order meat,
produce, snacks and other household essentials from Amazon UK's
'Fresh' service in two-hour windows for orders above 40 pounds
($52), the e-commerce giant said https://amazonuk.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/fast-grocery-delivery-now-free-prime-starting-today-london.
Orders made before 9 p.m. will be delivered the same day in
most areas, it said.
It said it has lowered the minimum order value for Prime
customers to 15 pounds, from 40 pounds, and it aims to roll out
free, same-day delivery to Prime customers across the United
Kingdom by the end of the year.
The lockdown has led to changing consumer behaviour as
people shun supermarket trips, with nearly one in five British
households now buying over the internet, market researcher
Kantar said last month.
Industry data shows that grocery sales in Britain rose 14.6%
in the four weeks to July 12 compared with last year, though
growth was slower than previous weeks as restrictions to contain
the coronavirus were eased.
Internet supermarket group Ocado forecast earlier
this month that online grocery shopping will double its share of
the UK market over the new few years, building on a huge
increase during the lockdown.
Amazon has been tapping into this sector since 2016, when it
first launched its 'Fresh' service, although it has been selling
food and drinks since the launch of its grocery store in 2010.
Last year the U.S. company extended its partnership with
Morrisons which allowed customers to order from the UK
supermarket chain and have it delivered by Amazon. It is unclear
how the new plan affects this collaboration.
The new service applies to around 300 postcodes across
Greater London and the South East of England.
Amazon's move had been flagged by trade press in April.
($1 = 0.7765 pounds)
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka and Tanishaa Nadkar in
Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Susan Fenton)
Ocado (OCDO)