Dive Brief:
- Amazon announced Wednesday the debut of an annual grocery subscription plan available for Prime members and the expansion of its grocery delivery plan for qualifying government assistance recipients.
- The new subscription option offers unlimited delivery on grocery orders over $35 from Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market and other local grocers and specialty stores listed on Amazon.com.
- The new annual plan comes on the heels of Amazon’s monthly grocery delivery subscription, which debuted in April.
Dive Insight:
Over the past year, Amazon has been on a trial-and-error journey with its grocery operations, but the launch of two subscription plans months apart demonstrates where the grocer is seeing success.
The new annual plan costs $99.99 per year for Prime members, the announcement stated. That’s about $20 less than paying the monthly fee of $9.99 for 12 months.
According to Amazon, its monthly subscription option offers Prime members “flexibility and lower upfront costs” while its annual plan offers “the best savings.”
“After the success of our monthly grocery delivery subscription launch earlier this year, we’re thrilled to offer Prime members in over 3,500 U.S. cities and towns two months free if they sign up for the new annual plan that provides even better value,” Tony Hoggett, senior vice president of worldwide grocery stores at Amazon, said in a statement.
In April, Amazon granted EBT card users access to Amazon’s grocery subscription benefits without a Prime membership at $4.99 per month. Now, all Prime Access members are eligible for the monthly option, regardless of their qualifying form of government assistance, saving them $60 compared to the monthly Prime member subscription option.
Along with Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market, shoppers can also receive delivery through Amazon from Cardenas Markets, Save Mart, Rite Aid, Pet Food Express, Mission Wine & Spirits and more using their subscription plan, the announcement noted.
Other features offered through the subscription service include priority access to Recurring Reservations and the ability to select free one-hour delivery windows or 30-minute pickup slots for grocery orders from Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh. These offerings are also available to Amazon’s monthly grocery supscription members.
