In a press release last week, Amazon announced that it was expanding its same-day fresh grocery delivery service to more than 1,000 cities and towns across the country — with plans to add 2,300 more locations by the end of this year.
It's also added thousands of new perishable grocery items such as produce, dairy, meat and more to its online marketplace.
You might be thinking that this isn't news because Amazon Fresh already exists and delivers fresh groceries to your door in a matter of hours. The major online marketplace emphasized that this new service is not the same Amazon Fresh or its Whole Foods delivery options.
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The most noticeable difference for Amazon Prime members is that the expanded grocery delivery service doesn't cost extra.
While Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods deliveries require a $9.99 per month subscription on top of your membership fee, the new grocery delivery is included in your base Amazon Prime benefits at no extra cost.
Here's what you need to know about the new service and how it compares with your other online grocery shopping options.
Amazon's expanded grocery delivery service is a good deal for Prime members
For Amazon shoppers who've used or at least heard of Amazon Fresh, this new service is different. With Amazon Fresh, you must order groceries separately. If you're buying batteries on Amazon and bananas on Amazon Fresh, they can't be combined into one cart to help you reach the order minimum.
If you're in one of the eligible locations that now offers fresh grocery delivery, that's changed. You can order your bananas and batteries from Amazon — rather than Amazon Fresh — so they'll all be in the same cart.
Basically, if you're in one of the 1,000 cities and towns where the service is now available, you can now use your existing same-day delivery perk to order fresh groceries such as produce, milk and ice cream. All you have to do is meet the same $25 order minimum that you currently meet to qualify for free same-day delivery.
Not a Prime member? You can still get fresh groceries delivered to you same day for $12.99. Depending on how much you're ordering, that can still be cheaper than a service such as DoorDash or Instacart, since you won't have to pay extra service fees or tips.
Should Prime members ditch Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods?
The new fresh grocery delivery service is different from the retailer's existing grocery delivery options, such as Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods. Many of the fresh food options overlap with what you'll find on Amazon Fresh.
Given the overlap, if you currently pay the extra $9.99 per month on top of your Prime membership fee, you might consider dropping it if Amazon's new grocery delivery service is available in your area. You can get a similarly convenient grocery delivery service that's already included with your base membership fee.
There are a couple of caveats to that, though:
- You can't schedule one- or two-hour deliveries with the new service as you can with Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods.
- There are some products that aren't yet available.
To decide if dropping the extra $9.99/month for Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods is worth it, head to Amazon's same-day grocery store and do a test grocery run.
Try to fill your cart with as many of your regular grocery items as you can and take note of what's missing from the selection.
If there's only one or two items missing — especially if those are things you can pick up in person at a local store as needed — it's probably a good time to drop the added fee.
Same day delivery can be a bit slower than one or two-hour delivery, but it's still extremely convenient and doesn't cost anything extra.
How does the new delivery service compare with other grocery delivery options?
The overlap between Amazon's expanded grocery delivery service and Amazon Fresh is confusing. But, if you're trying to decide which shopping membership is the best deal for getting regular grocery deliveries, Amazon's new offer makes your choice a little more complicated.
Use the table below for a quick breakdown of how popular shopping memberships stack up when it comes to grocery delivery.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Amazon's Expanded Grocery Service | Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods | Walmart+ | Target Circle 360 |
Order minimum | $25 | $35 | $35 | $35 |
Delivery speed | Same day | 1-2 hours | Same day | Same day |
Delivery fee | Free with Prime | $9.99/month with Prime (on top of annual fee) | Free with Walmart+ | Free with Target Circle 360 |
Pickup options | No | 30-minute pickup available. | Same day curbside pickup on orders placed before 3:00 P.M. | Curbside pickup within two hours (usually) |
Product selection | Food selection has a lot of overlap with Amazon Fresh, but some products vary. | Fresh groceries, pantry items and household essentials. | Fresh groceries, pantry items, household essentials and general merchandise. | Fresh groceries, pantry items, household essentials and general merchandise. |
Annual membership fee | $139 | $139 | $98 | $99 |
| Row 7 - Cell 0 |
The trick to getting your money's worth out of annual memberships
The key to making any of these memberships worth the annual fee is making sure the full list of perks are ones you would actually use. Each membership comes with far more than grocery delivery perks. Some include members' only discounts to save on gas, free streaming subscriptions, pharmacy delivery and more.
Whether Amazon Prime, Walmart+ or another shopping membership are the best value for you depends on how many of the membership perks you'd use and how often you'd use them.
Another important thing to do to make sure your membership is saving you money, instead of pushing you to spend more, is to avoid dropping impulse purchases into your cart to meet order minimums.
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