Alex Bitter/Insider
- Amazon has bet big on its hybrid online and brick-and-mortar grocery store, Amazon Fresh.
- You can purchase groceries online and get them delivered, via local pickup, or in a physical store.
- The cost of Amazon Fresh delivery depends on how much you spend and whether you’re a Prime member.
Amazon Fresh is the e-commerce giant's native grocery store.
The company has invested heavily in the grocery space, with somewhat limited results. Even after Amazon's Whole Foods acquisition in 2017, Amazon had captured just over 1% of the grocery market in the US.
Lagging sales caused the grocery chain to be part of Amazon layoffs in July 2023, and led to changes like redesigned brick-and-mortar stores.
How does Amazon Fresh work?
You can purchase groceries from Amazon Fresh in several ways, including online ordering for delivery, local pick-up, and in-store shopping.
Amazon Fresh stocks national and local brands, as well as its own store brands, including Happy Belly and Fresh brand. You can also purchase 365 by Whole Foods brand groceries.
If you're shopping online, note that you can't combine Whole Foods delivery items and Amazon Fresh items in the same cart.
Are there Amazon Fresh brick-and-mortar stores?
There are physical Amazon Fresh stores in eight states — California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington — plus Washington, D.C. The first Amazon Fresh market opened in August 2020.
Amazon Fresh stores typically have regular checkout lines like any grocery store. But they also offer interesting tech-enabled checkout systems to get you in and out faster.
For instance, Just Walk Out shopping allows you to skip the checkout line. You simply scan your Amazon One identity service, in-store code from the Amazon app, or credit card that's linked to your Amazon account, pick out and bag your items, and scan your card again to exit.
You can also pick up Amazon orders at Amazon Fresh stores and drop off items you'd like to return.
Anyone can shop at an Amazon Fresh store, no Prime membership required. But Amazon Prime members save an additional 10% on hundreds of products in brick-and-mortar stores.
Is Amazon Fresh free with Prime?
The cost of Amazon Fresh delivery depends on how much you spend.
Amazon recently rolled out free Fresh deliveries over $100 for Prime members. The prior free delivery threshold was $150.
Grocery orders under the free delivery threshold will incur a delivery fee — $6.95 for a two-hour window and a cart value of $50 plus, and $9.95 for a two-hour window under $50. Choosing a one-hour delivery window may drive up the delivery fee.
Shoppers without Prime memberships will pay between $7.95 and $13.95, depending on how much they purchase and their chosen delivery window.
Amazon Fresh offers sales and discounts both in-store and online.
Insider reporter Alex Bitter visited an Amazon Fresh store in Maryland and found a lot of discounts, from paper products to meat — but also a lot of empty shelves.