Amazon to Bring Same-Day Grocery Delivery to the Bay

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Harried grocery shoppers rejoice: Amazon plans to launch AmazonFresh, a same-day grocery delivery service, in the Bay by the end of the year. After a five-year beta test in Seattle and an upcoming launch in LA (reports suggest as early as this week), the Bay Area will also reap the time savings of no longer trudging to a grocery market, as well as emancipation from no longer fighting for parking spaces (yes, we're looking at you, Whole Foods Noe Valley).

No word yet if Amazon will partner with local stores (à la Google Same Day Express), but it's more likely that the company will apply its proven business model of trying to sell extras (i.e. expensive electronics) along with well-priced, everyday goods (in this case, the groceries), all shipped from its own warehouses. Questions remain about how a grocery delivery service will fare in a city that both cherishes its farmers markets and its thoughtfully sourced, well-curated, local grocery stores and also embraces all things tech. Time will tell if there can be room for both.—Esther Hahn
·Amazon plans big expansion of online grocery business: sources [Reuters]
·Amazon Bringing Grocery Delivery To Bay Area [SFist]
·Google to Offer Same-Day Delivery to the Entire Bay Area [Racked SF]