After Delving Into 33 Other Lines, Amazon Finally Gets Around to Food: Anyone else think they’re stretching a little thin here? I’ve never thought grocery stores worked well on the Web, unless they were local store serving a local customer base, and even then it’s tough.
Amazon introduced a grocery store last week, complete with sales rankings, customer reviews and recommendations. (For the record, customers who bought Froot Loops also bought digital pedometers. Who knew?) It is the 34th product category Amazon has rolled out since it started expanding in the late 1990’s, but for some it is the most puzzling, since it calls to mind some of the worst Internet business debacles on record.
We've taken a pretty good look at this, since we live in a rural area without much in the way of chain grocery stores and relatively high prices. Even for us, there aren't many bargains to be had on Amazon Groceries. A lot of what they carry is specialty/gourmet stuff that may appeal to their core Seattle/SanFran audience but isn't really what we (with four kids to feed) think of as groceries.
But if you really hunt, there are a few savings to be had. Tips - (1) Amazon prime free shipping still applies (2) if you poke around right now, there's a $10 off $50 purchase coupon, which amounts to a 20% savings and drives down the prices of some items to cheaper than grocery store sales.
But there's sure no magic here. For most of the mainline groceries, their prices are equal to or higher than standard store prices, even if you don't count shipping - and you have to buy in case lots from Amazon.
