Dive Brief:
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Amazon is testing a drive-through grocery store in Sunnyvale, CA, in Silicon Valley, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
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The e-retail giant has already ventured into the grocery business with Amazon Fresh, its same-day and early morning delivery service of groceries and restaurant orders (in addition to other products available at Amazon).
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Neither Amazon nor the Sunnyvale location developer would comment on the project named by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as the location of the drive-through business.
Dive Insight:
We already know that Amazon hasn’t seen any need to let up its disruption mode even after 20 years in business, but its assertiveness in the grocery space with Amazon Fresh has surprised some people.
That Amazon is apparently experimenting with ways to expand Amazon Fresh should come as no surprise, though. It’s an area that is likely to challenge grocery stores and other retailers that, like Target and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., are also moving more into grocery-store offerings.
Amazon’s efforts with Amazon Fresh, while not as attention-getting as, say, its Dash button, could really challenge those brick-and-mortar retailers, Jeff Fagel, CMO of marketing company G/O Digital, has told Retail Dive.
“Amazon Fresh is a bigger threat to physical retailers, Walmart, Target, and grocery stores,” Fagel says. “If Amazon can deliver on solving same day, instant gratification across their entire inventory of products, that is a major threat to all retailers, big or small.” Looks like its working on just that.