Quite a while ago, I reported Amazon starting a grocery delivery service in West Coast cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle. It must be doing well, because Amazon is moving this service east.
The delivery is called Amazon Fresh. Amazon Fresh is scheduled start it’s delivery in New York soon and very soon. But it’s only in one neighborhood: Brooklyn’s Park Slope. It should eventually expand throughout Brooklyn and other boroughs (although they’re keeping hush about when). Park Slope was chosen because of it’s high number of Amazon customers. If Amazon Fresh customers put their orders before 10am, they will get their groceries that day. If they place orders after 10am, they will have to wait until the following day. Don’t go running to join Amazon Fresh now, even if you are in Brooklyn. To participate in this program, you have to be an existing member of the Amazon Prime program…who just happen to live in Brooklyn’s Park Slope. That program is $99 a year and expected to go way up. Effective January 2015, Amazon Fresh customers will have to upgrade to a Prime Fresh program. I say upgrade because of price, not potential quality. As of this date, Prime Fresh will cost you $299 a year.
This is something I don’t get. If you’re trying to promote a new service, why are you going to triple the price on your customers when the service is barely on the ground? I agree with Amazon Fresh on the slow and cautious approach, testing the waters in California, then in New York. But I must admit, one neighborhood at a time is a bit too slow. The competition won’t be kind. Local grocers like Fresh Direct have that area on lock. And in the eyes of many, it will look like the mega international corporation is trying to kick the small business little guy to the curb. Good luck dealing with that public relations nightmare. So with the price increase and image problem, does Amazon Fresh stand a chance in Brooklyn?