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Amazon is beginning to launch its same-day grocery delivery service, Amazon Fresh, in New York, with service to one Brooklyn neighborhood starting today. Recode reports that the service will begin in Park Slope, a generally well-off neighborhood associated with city parents, and that Amazon intends to expand to elsewhere in Brooklyn from there. Amazon doesn't say whether it'll be launching in Manhattan, but same-day grocery delivery has long been a field that web companies have tried to crack — and should its experiments in Brooklyn succeed, there's no doubt that Amazon will keep pushing forward.
$299 per year to get groceries to your door
Amazon Fresh is already up and running in Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The service allows customers to buy items on Amazon's website and have them shipped to their homes and apartments either later in the day or early the next morning. Though it's primarily meant for groceries, the service also offers a selection of electronics and other items. Park Slope customers will be able to use the service at no additional cost for now, but they'll eventually have to pay for a $299 per year Prime Fresh subscription to get grocery delivery. That subscription also includes access to all standard Prime features.
Same-day grocery delivery has historically been a very difficult business to succeed in — as in, a lot of companies have gone under trying to do just that. That story appears to be turning around, however, as large and already established names like Amazon and even Google have begun trying it out in large cities. In New York, Amazon will even find immediate competition from FreshDirect, a next-day-delivery grocery service that's already established itself in the city. Google too is offering same-day grocery delivery in New York, though it's currently covering Manhattan.