Amazon Mulls Grocery Expansion

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

SEATTLE — AmazonFresh, the grocery arm of Amazon.com, is considering expanding the distribution area for its free weekly grocery deliveries, according to local reports.

The company, which has sold groceries since 2006, already delivers groceries to 54 ZIP codes in and around its home base here.

Reports indicated the free weekly program — called Amazon Tote — could become available companywide. Amazon representatives declined comment on the reports.

AmazonFresh offers free daily deliveries for orders of $75 or more and charges $5.99 to deliver orders under $75. Through the Amazon Tote service, it also offers free deliveries to approximately 20 of those ZIP codes to customers who shop once a week and schedule deliveries on a specific day, with no minimum purchase requirements.

The items are delivered in a reusable, Velcro-closed tote bag by the company's captive truck fleet. The selection is not limited to groceries, according to amazon.com/tote.

Patti Edwards, an analyst with Trutina Financial here, said Amazon does an excellent job on grocery deliveries. “It started small, delivering only to downtown Seattle, and gradually moved farther out to the suburbs. At this point it delivers nearly 30 miles outside Seattle,” she told SN.

She said Amazon is capable of expanding grocery deliveries “as far as it wants as long as it has enough of a distribution system, because there's a limit on how far it can go from just one hub.”

Amazon declined to indicate how many grocery distribution centers it operates nor the number of grocery SKUs it carries.