Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Amazon ups the stakes in food delivery. Doreen Christensen evaluates,
At some point, Amazon may be the only retailer left in America.
As stores such as HHGregg, The Limited, Macy’s, Sears, JC Penney, Staples and others continue to close and struggle to survive, Amazon thrives.
On Wednesday, the Seattlebased retailer introduced AmazonFresh, which is now bringing the bacon — along with eggs and milk — to South Florida doorsteps.
The online grocery service is a movable feast for Amazon Prime members, delivering to parts of Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Miramar, Miami Gardens, Coral Gables, Hialeah, Westchester and Kendall, with plans to expand, the company said.
Items available include fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, seafood, baked goods, dairy products, prepared meals, personal care and baby products, among thousands of goods that move through the company’s 340,000-square-foot warehouse in Doral.
There is a $40 minimum. Orders placed in the early morning will be delivered that evening; orders placed before bed should be waiting on doorsteps in time for breakfast the next day, Amazon said.
Shop and schedule delivery at Amazon.com/amazonfresh and add items to carts with a $20 Dash device that scans bar codes. The service costs an additional $99 a year, or $14.99 per month, on top of a Prime membership, which is $99 a year or $10.99 a month. The retailer offers free 30-day trials of both memberships.
The intriguing Local Market program also includes items from popular Miami retailers including Dr. Smood, Kosher Kingdom and pies from Fireman Derek’s Bake Shop, according to Amazon. Presumably, other popular South Florida specialty retailers will be added as AmazonFresh pushes north.
Amazon says it offers a wide selection of organics, daily specials and deals, such as a Dutch apple pie for 25 cents in honor of Pi Day on March 14. But other groceries are not cheap. A gallon of organic milk is $6.99; a loaf of bread is $3.77. A dozen cage-free eggs is $2.71; a 3-pound bag of Granny Smith apples is $5.07. A pound of strawberries is $5.49.
Still, if you detest grocery shopping, are housebound or a senior who finds it difficult to get out, AmazonFresh is another option in the flourishing South Florida grocery delivery market. Other choices include app-based Instacart, Shipt and Google Express. Drizly also brings beer, wine and spirits to homes and offices.
Even though I’m a Prime member, it’s doubtful I would pay $7 for milk just because I’m too lazy to drive around the corner to Publix. Plus, you can’t use manufacturer coupons to pump up savings, a major drawback for me.
But I do order lots of other stuff from Amazon.com. Recently, it made a welcome change, dropping the free two-day shipping threshold on orders of $35. It had been $49. The move came after Walmart announced free shipping on orders of $35 with no membership fee.
There is no question Amazon has changed how we shop and receive goods, which is taking a gigantic bite out of legacy retailers’ sales.
As it is, I rarely go to department stores like Macy’s or Sears. If I need a birthday gift, or everyday items like vacuum cleaner bags, I quickly order them from Amazon and sometimes, amazingly, they’re at my door in a day, two at the most. This keeps me out of retail stores and malls on the weekends, which partly explains why the legacy chains are hurting. When I do shop, I tend to go to discount chains like Ross, Nordstrom Rack or T.J .Maxx.
Amazon’s only going to get bigger and better, its long tentacles touching and shaping every aspect of retail.
It continues to rapidly expand same-day delivery service around the country, filling orders from more than 70 facilities designed to get fresh food and millions of other items to doors in just a few hours. That’s on the horizon here, as Amazon has plans to build a 900,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Opalocka that will employ 1,000 people, according to the Miami Herald. Also, Amazon Air had a successful test flight in December, which brings it one step closer to unmanned drone deliveries.
That’s more bad news for Macy’s, JC Penney, Sears and the malls they anchor. A failure to adapt to technology, will turn those stores into curious relics of the past, as Amazon drops your packages from the sky.
Boat Show BOGO deal
Get a free ticket valued at $22 when you buy one to the Palm Beach International Boat Show on March 23-26 with a voucher from Bennett Auto Supply.
The Pompano Beachbased company is offering an online voucher that can be redeemed in select stores to get the free ticket with purchase of another. Proceeds from tickets benefit the nonprofit Sheridan House in Davie, which serves children and families.
Boat show hours are noon to 7 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday at 100 Evernia St. in downtown West Palm Beach. Tickets are $22 per day for adults and $12 for children.