Amazon has started selling groceries in Britain, taking on Tesco, Ocado and Sainsbury’s.
For the first time in Britain, Amazon.co.uk, famed for its cheap CDs, books and toys will now sell coffee, tea, wine, biscuits and even meat and vegetables.
In all, 20,000 different items will be on offer. All the major dried goods, such as tea, crisps, spices, biscuits, nappies and pasta will be stored in Amazon’s own giant warehouses, allowing people to receive these by guaranteed delivery the next day.
Brian McBride, managing director of Amazon.co.uk, said that it could take market share from the likes of Tesco or Ocado.
“I don’t think many people will do their weekly shop, but when we come into a market we always look to take market share.
“There will be many people who live outside of the big cities, who might find it difficult to track down their favourite brand of green tea, or ingredients for a Japanese recipe. We can offer that,” he said.
The food will be sent through the post, as if they were a normal Amazon delivery, packed in cardboard boxes.
The fresh and chilled items, including everything from a whole lamb for £119.95 to a punnet of salad cress for 29p, will be delivered directly from the suppliers. This means shoppers could end up receiving four or five separate deliveries for one large shop.
For customers prepared to pay £49 a year, next-day delivery will be free. Otherwise people will have to pay for the delivery, or wait for three days.
Retail analysts were sceptical that the project would work, even though Amazon had a reputation as Britain’s largest Internet retailer and an increasingly important force in shaping consumers’ shopping habits.
Neil Saunders, lead researcher at Verdict, said: “I think this is slightly mad.
“I can see it working for specialty items — they stock many ethnic cooking ingredients — and for large bulk buys, be it soft drinks or nappies or whatever.
