Amazon makes Fresh deliveries available to non-Prime customers in grocery overhaul

Amazon is now letting non-Prime members order grocery deliveries from its Fresh stores, according to Bloomberg’s interview with Amazon grocery head Tony Hoggett. Starting today, customers in major US cities, like Boston, Dallas, and San Francisco, can place online orders from Amazon Fresh stores and warehouses.

While non-Prime grocery delivery is only available in a handful of cities in the US for now, Bloomberg reports that Amazon plans on rolling out the initiative across the country by the end of this year. Before this change, Amazon only let those who pay for its $139 per year Prime membership order groceries online.

Non-Prime users still won’t have some of the same benefits as Prime subscribers, however. According to Bloomberg, non-Prime users will have to pay anywhere from $7.95 to $13.95 for grocery delivery fees, which is about $4 more than the typical fee for Prime members. Amazon will also only let non-Prime customers order from Amazon Fresh for now, but it will eventually allow them to get deliveries from Whole Foods and other third-party grocers.

Additionally, Bloomberg reports that Amazon is making changes to the way customers make online grocery orders as well. Instead of having customers three place separate orders for products in Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and other stores on Amazon’s marketplace, Amazon is working to streamline this process by letting users create just one cart. This change might not come until the end of this year or in 2024, Bloomberg notes, as Amazon will need to start stocking Whole Foods products in Amazon Fresh hubs. The company also plans on putting refrigerated sections inside its warehouses.

As part of that initiative, Amazon is working on revamping some of its existing stores with less of a focus on some of the high-tech technology they opened with. While customers will still be able to use Amazon’s product-detecting Dash Carts and the cashierless Just Walk Out technology, Amazon says it will install self-checkout stations as well, “giving customers even more ways to save time on their grocery trips and pick what works best for them.” In Chicago, Amazon has already renovated its stores with an “expanded selection” of groceries, along with a built-in Krispy Kreme shop. Bloomberg reports that Amazon is eliminating “hundreds” of junior manager jobs as a result of these changes.

Although Amazon is reworking some of the stores it already has, Hoggett tells Bloomberg that the company is still intent on opening more locations. “We’re very deliberate about growing a big physical store grocery network in the US and around the world,” Hoggett says. “We’re still working out how best to do that… but we will open more grocery stores.”