Amazon plans expansion of UK delivery service

Amazon is planning a wider UK rollout of its online grocery service by the end of 2020 as it tries to take advantage of consumers’ needs during the pandemic.

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Larger orders on Amazon Fresh will be free to members of the online retailer’s Prime service from Tuesday.

The e-commerce giant is expanding to cover more areas of the UK and allow greater take-up by its estimated 15m members following criticism of the scheme because many Prime members living outside London couldn’t access it.

According to the Guardian, Prime members in Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh will be among the first to benefit from a wider rollout by the year end.

Amazon Fresh will also cut the monthly add-on fee of £3.99 or a £2.99 delivery fee for orders worth more than £40 requiring two-hour delivery. They will still cost £3.99 for a one-hour slot.

Amazon is trying to take a large slot in the the growing grocery delivery market which is set to grow by 76.2% to a worth of £19.5bn in 2020.

Recent figures from Nielsen reveal that online grocery sales jumped 92% in the four weeks to 12 July.