Amazon announced Wednesday that it is rolling out new ways to order online for Prime members, including the ability to combine regular orders and groceries for same-day shipping. The company is also adding more fulfillment centers that combine Amazon and Whole Foods, and is piloting stores where robots pack Amazon orders while you shop for groceries.
Same-day ordering and grocery bundles on Amazon.com begin in the Phoenix area. There, customers can purchase “tens of thousands of grocery items” (including perishables) alongside regular Amazon orders like AirPods and Lego sets. Items are combined into one order and arrive together in a same-day or overnight delivery window of your choice.
The company plans to expand its integrated same-day model to more regions after testing and learning with the Phoenix trial.
Along similar lines, Amazon is also expanding its product range at some Amazon Fresh fulfillment centers. The company is changing 26 of them around the world, adding “the best of Whole Foods Market and Housewares on Amazon.com.” Similar to the Phoenix-area trial, the aim is to more efficiently combine orders from separate branches of the vast online store.
Finally, the company is piloting a future Whole Foods Market in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles from Philadelphia. The store has added an automated Amazon.com micro-fulfillment center that allows customers to shop for household goods (Amazon uses Tide pods and Pepsi as examples) while customers roam the aisles and buy organic spinach and pita bread. ).
You can order on your mobile phone and a robot will cook your food in the back of the store while you shop. The app includes a countdown of the estimated time remaining until the end. The goal is to ensure that orders at micro-fulfillment centers are completed by checkout. Take your phone to the counter, pick up a Tide Pod, and let’s jump!
The service is expected to launch in 2025 at the Plymouth Meeting Store. The video below is a visualization of the future Philadelphia location in action.
