Amazon food delivery finally arrives with Seattle launch
The company announced that it would make the service available to Prime Now customers in its home town of Seattle from this week. The scheme involves partnerships with a number of local restuarants including Cactus, Wild Ginger, Skillet, Marination Station, Re:public, Café Yumm!, Ten Mercer, Mamnoon.
Customers can view participating restaurants, browse menus, place orders and track the status of their delivery in real time via the Prime Now mobile app. Once an order is placed Amazon delivery drivers pick up and deliver the food within an hour or less.
Discussing the deal, Gus Lopez, general manager of Amazon Restaurants said that “for many of these restaurants, this is the first time they are offering delivery, and we are delighted they have chosen to work with us”.
Scott Campbell is director of operations for Wild Ginger who are taking part in the new scheme. He said the company was “excited to team up with Amazon” and added that the partnership would allow the restaurant to “align our product quality and customer service standards with a brand that our customers know and trust.”
The food delivery market is growing quickly and has recently seen companies such as McDonald’s and Chipotle forming partnerships with delivery apps like Postmates to deliver food in selected regions.
The latest innovation from Amazon adds to the company’s already extensive array of services, which includes a music service and TV and film streaming, all of which come under the Prime umbrella subscription. The restaurant delivery feature will see Amazon face-off against a number of other rival services though its extensive tech expertise and capital potential could see it quickly outreach the industry.
Prime Now is an additional benefit of Amazon Prime which is available in 10 US cities, including Portland, Oregon and Seattle as well as London. The service is part of Prime’s $99-a-year programme which offers a one hour delivery service in selected areas for $7.99. Prime members can download the Prime Now app and enter their area code to see if the service is available in their area.