Amazon already delivers fresh groceries, electronics, pantry items, toiletries, office supplies and millions of other retail goods.
In its ongoing quest to become a one-stop shop for virtually all your shopping essentials, Amazon has launched a restaurant-delivery service in Seattle, Reuters reports.
“Amazon’s decision to use its own fleet of drivers to carry out meal deliveries pits it against established players like GrubHub Inc as well as newer rivals like Uber, which has expanded its own meal delivery service in cities like San Francisco and Austin,” Reuters noted.
Using the Prime Now app, Seattleites can order their favorite food from a growing list of restaurants and have it delivered to their front door in 60 minutes or less.
“We are going to learn a lot from starting in Seattle — an important part of the customer experience is having a range of selection from quality restaurants,” Gus Lopez, general manager of Amazon Restaurants, said in an interview with Reuters.
Although Seattle Prime members, who pay $99 per year for a Prime subscription, won’t pay extra now for meal delivery – Amazon said there are no menu markups or service fees – it’s possible the e-commerce giant will eventually require customers to pay a fee for the service.
“The beauty of integrating restaurant delivery into the Amazon app is that customers already have their shipping, billing and credit card information uploaded, so there’s not much extra effort required in starting to use the delivery service,” Fortune said.
So, could Amazon be delivering your next take-out meal from your favorite restaurant? To start with, Amazon is offering restaurant delivery service to Prime members in Seattle ZIP codes and “will expand in the coming days,” according to its press release.
“Prime members can download the Prime Now app and enter their ZIP code to see if Prime Now is available in their area. In ZIP codes where restaurant delivery is available, customers will see Restaurants on the home page.”
The company did not indicate how quickly that expansion of the service would take place.
But if job postings are any indication, the Big Apple may be the next city to get restaurant delivery service from Amazon. Reuters noted that Amazon has recently been hiring employees for a division dedicated to restaurants in Seattle and New York.
Prime Now is available in several cities across the U.S., including Chicago, Atlanta, New York and Portland.
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