Amazon’s fresh assault on the supermarkets

AMAZON is aggressively expanding its delivery service in Britain in its latest assault on traditional supermarkets.

The tech giant ramped up plans to get hundreds of smaller shops to sign up to its Amazon Fresh delivery service and go head-to-head with the big high street names.

This latest attack came as it looked to recruit someone to head up its Amazon Fresh marketplace team in the UK in order to win food and drink partners.

It is the next step in Amazon’s plan to launch the service nationwide.

The internet giant plans to have 130,000 different products on sale on its grocery website, almost double that of Tesco and 80,000 more than ocado.

This latest onslaught on the supermarket industry follows its bid for organic food store Whole Foods for £10.7bn in June – a move which sank the shares of all major retailers.

Amazon already partners with morrisons to deliver the grocer’s own products, as well as branded goods such as Flora margarine, Cornetto ice creams and Yeo Valley yogurts – but it is looking to grow its list of independent sellers on its website.

The ‘partner’ sellers are independent retailers who specialise in delivering high quality produce. Current partners in London include high- end butchers Lidgates in Holland Park, Gail’s Artisan Bakery in Soho and specialist wholesale fishmonger murray’s Fresh Fish.

The scheme means customers using Amazon’s website can save on household items like potatoes, bread and vegetables, but splash out on a high quality beef joint from Lidgates – and have them delivered in one go.

In a job advert, Amazon says the ideal candidate to head up the expansion will be a ‘highly motivated, experienced, innovative and customer-focused business leader’ who is able to ‘aggressively’ grow its existing range of 36 main sellers.

The move would mean the tech firm’s delivery reach could expand beyond the 302 post codes – predominantly in and around the surrounding areas of London – that it currently delivers to.

Bernstein analyst Thomas Wharram said getting more food and drink names on board would boost Amazon in the absence of an own brand.

He said: ‘Customers need to be able to trust in fresh produce brands so the more third-party sellers they can provide, the better their offering will be.’

Amazon Fresh was launched in America in 2007 but rolled out to the UK in June last year.

Unlike traditional high street grocers, which operate on low margins and need to keep tight controls on costs to make profits, its £379bn market value means it can afford to make years of losses.

Amazon’s deal to buy Whole Foods, which has nine shops in the UK, sent shockwaves through Britain’s biggest supermarkets.

To combat the threat, Tesco last week said it would be offering same-day delivery across the UK for customers who order by 1pm to have their shopping delivered from 7pm onwards.

Sainsbury’s offers same- day delivery from 30 stores.