Amazon news

Amazon is now offering free grocery deliveries for Prime members. Paying for convenience Delivery fees are a key barrier to using online, and previously, Amazon Fresh charged a monthly add-on fee of £3.99, or £2.99 per delivery, (in addition to £79 for an annual Amazon Prime membership).  Now, shoppers using Amazon Fresh, spending over £40, and agreeing to receive their groceries within a...

Amazon has announced it is opening health care centres located near its fulfilment centres across the US for employees. Local, convenience health centres Amazon is launching health centres near its fulfilment centres and operations facilities as a new health care benefit for employees. The new Neighbourhood Health Centres will be launched in partnership with Crossover Health, a national pro...

Amazon is launching a smart shopping cart, Amazon Dash Cart, in its grocery store in Woodland Hills, CA later this year. Amazon Dash Cart The grocery cart is designed to make the shopper experience quicker in store, allowing customers to skip the checkout queue. It uses a combination of computer vision algorithms and sensor fusion to identify items shoppers put in the cart. There will be...

Amazon announced it plans to open an Amazon Robotics fulfilment centre (FC) in Western Sydney to expand operations in the country. State-of-the-art facility The new 200,000 sq. m. facility will open in late 2021 and aims to deliver a faster, more consistent experience for customers across Australia. The FC will use robots to speed order processing time by moving shelves to employees, theref...

Amazon announced it has signed an agreement to acquire California-based autonomous driving startup, Zoox. Autonomous driving technology Zoox launched in 2014 with the aim of developing zero-emissions vehicles designed for autonomous ride-hailing. Amazon has agreed to acquire the startup in a deal reported to be worth more than $1bn. Zoox will continue to be led by its CEO, Aicha Evans, and ...

Amazon has announced it is rolling out a new service, called Smart Stores, enabling customers to discover products at local stores in India, make payments, and earn rewards using Amazon Pay. Smart Stores With the launch of Smart Stores, customers in India can scan a QR code at participating stores using the Amazon app. These QR codes enable shoppers to access a digital storefront to learn m...

Whole Foods Market has opened its new store in Baltimore, having initially paused the launch to use the facility as a dark store to support demand for its online shopping service. Opening to the public The Baltimore store was one of three which the retailer held back on opening to the public earlier this year, along with locations in Austin and Castle Rock, Colorado. Along with existing sto...

Amazon has announced it is launching The Climate Pledge Fund to support the development of sustainable technologies and services. The retailer has also launched an accelerator programme in the UK for small businesses and startups. Climate Pledge Fund Amazon’s $2bn Climate Pledge Fund will be used to invest in companies that are building products, services, and technologies to decarbonise th...

New store openings have been relatively rare this year as retailers have focused on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and paused new space plans. However, 2020 got off to a strong start, including a notable new opening from Amazon. We look at some of the key stores which opened each month this year in the US and what learnings can be taken as retailers adapt to the current trading environment. ...

Amazon has launched Amazon.sa in Saudi Arabia, a rebranding of Souq.com. Amazon rebrands Souq Amazon.sa has been rebranded from Souq.com, an ecommerce platform which Amazon acquired in 2017 in the Middle East. Shoppers’ account information for Souq.com was automatically transferred to the new site. The retailer said that it is building an operations network across the country, and it alr...