AmazonFresh Rolls Out Mandatory $299/Year “Prime Fresh” Grocery Membership

Megalith

Megalith

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I predict a significant exodus of AmazonFresh customers. What’s your experience with grocery delivery services?

Later, Amazon delayed the rollout from June to the end of September and started experimenting with a two-tiered subscription model in California, allowing regular Amazon Prime members ($99/year) to use AmazonFresh, but with a delivery fee. (There’s no delivery fee on orders above $50 for the higher-level Prime Fresh members.)
 
300 a year just to forgo having to go to the store and pick out food myself? no amazon nope.
 
gigatexal said:
300 a year just to forgo having to go to the store and pick out food myself? no amazon nope.
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I understand that feeling, but if this was available near me, I would be all over it..

$300.00 a year and I dont have to deal with the inconsiderate fucks at the local grocery store who always want to run me over with their cart as their snot nosed kids knock all the food off the bottom 3 shelves....
 
Crosshairs said:
I understand that feeling, but if this was available near me, I would be all over it..

$300.00 a year and I dont have to deal with the inconsiderate fucks at the local grocery store who always want to run me over with their cart as their snot nosed kids knock all the food off the bottom 3 shelves....
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Walmart is rolling out online grocery shopping for free, you just go there and pick up the groceries.
 
Crosshairs said:
I understand that feeling, but if this was available near me, I would be all over it..

$300.00 a year and I dont have to deal with the inconsiderate fucks at the local grocery store who always want to run me over with their cart as their snot nosed kids knock all the food off the bottom 3 shelves....
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Yes, but you are relying on others to choose the quality of your food. You can't look at the cuts of meat and pick the ones with the least fat, or maybe you want something smaller? Maybe you want to look at the produce, and pick out the smallest apples? Or the largest? Or the avocados that won't ripen for awhile?

I somewhat enjoy grocery shopping, as it gives me ideas on what to make, and I can find new products, and inspect the containers. How are you going to return bruised/damaged produce?

I like Amazon, but I don't foresee using them for produce, unless it's something I can't get cheaply here (say, a large container of some imported, exotic food).
 
man, you must have some nightmare stories about the supermarket.

In portland we have places like New Seasons (a local healthy / organic alternative to something like Whole Foods) and everyone is cheerful, friendly; the store is clean, and the produce is pretty high quality. Never had a real issue.

Now Fred Meyer's or Kroger as it's known nationwide, local to me at least, is a lot less of a premium experience.
 
Crosshairs said:
I understand that feeling, but if this was available near me, I would be all over it..

$300.00 a year and I dont have to deal with the inconsiderate fucks at the local grocery store who always want to run me over with their cart as their snot nosed kids knock all the food off the bottom 3 shelves....
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Weird. I can't remember seeing anything like this in the last 5 years (and probably longer than that). That said, I wouldn't pay 300 bucks to avoid that either. Maybe when I'm 70 or so I'll reconsider.
 
PersonalJ said:
Walmart is rolling out online grocery shopping for free, you just go there and pick up the groceries.
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Have you ever been to the customer service counter at a Wal-Mart supercenter? Might as well flip a coin on whether or not you will want to harm yourself or others when waiting in that line.
 
nilepez said:
Weird. I can't remember seeing anything like this in the last 5 years (and probably longer than that). That said, I wouldn't pay 300 bucks to avoid that either. Maybe when I'm 70 or so I'll reconsider.
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Maybe you have nicer people where you live....I live in the land of self absorbed fucks....avoiding them is worth much more than $300.00 a year
 
Eh, I don't live in a place where everyone is an asshole like Crosshair apparently does. However, I do have better things to do than spend an hour or two shopping+waiting in line. For me, I can make that fee up by doing an extra 2-3 hours (that I'd otherwise spend at a grocery store per week) of consulting work.
 
Grahamkracka said:
Eh, I don't live in a place where everyone is an asshole like Crosshair apparently does. However, I do have better things to do than spend an hour or two shopping+waiting in line. For me, I can make that fee up by doing an extra 2-3 hours (that I'd otherwise spend at a grocery store per week) of consulting work.
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2-3 hours? Wow. I'm not sure I spend that much time in a grocery store/month.
 
Grahamkracka said:
Eh, I don't live in a place where everyone is an asshole like Crosshair apparently does.
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I haven't ruled out the possibility that Im the asshole, but either way, I find that its best if I avoid the grocery stores...;)
 
nilepez said:
2-3 hours? Wow. I'm not sure I spend that much time in a grocery store/month.
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I could see 1.5 - 2 hours for some people or if it was really busy. I have always selected times to go where the store isn't that busy had already had in mine somewhat what I was going to get instead of going down every single isle and trying to decide if anything looked good. I get in, fill and cart and get out in about 30 - 45 minutes.
 
Exavior said:
I could see 1.5 - 2 hours for some people or if it was really busy. I have always selected times to go where the store isn't that busy had already had in mine somewhat what I was going to get instead of going down every single isle and trying to decide if anything looked good. I get in, fill and cart and get out in about 30 - 45 minutes.
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Well I do that as well...except the part about knowing what I want, but I don't go down every aisle (unless it's a new grocery store).
Produce->bread->meat->dairy->snacks->[frozen aisle]*->[paper goods/cleaning products]+
If I have a list, I can probably do it in 20 minutes or less + 10 minutes for round trip driving.

*only if I need ice cream or frozen veggies etc.
+probably less than 1/month on this stuff
 
I'm sure I could get in and out in 30 minutes if I were shopping for just me....shopping for 5 is a bit different and takes a bit longer..I could easily spend 1.5 hours or more
 
nilepez said:
2-3 hours? Wow. I'm not sure I spend that much time in a grocery store/month.
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I don't spend 2-3 hours in a grocery store but 1 to 1.5 hours is normal when you have kids and one is an infant. Shopping for a family of four takes much longer unlike when I was shopping for just myself. For one I actually read the nutrition info on items now and tend to do more googling of products.

Having said that my wife and I have long decided not to online shop for groceries. I'm not going to trust some underpaid worker to pick out the food my kids are going to eat.
 
Just go to the smaller grocery stores in the ritzy areas. Not the real small grocery stores, but just the Krogers and Albertsons. Usually have nice employees too.
 
SilverSliver said:
Have you ever been to the customer service counter at a Wal-Mart supercenter? Might as well flip a coin on whether or not you will want to harm yourself or others when waiting in that line.
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Solution: don't go to Walmart
 
nilepez said:
2-3 hours? Wow. I'm not sure I spend that much time in a grocery store/month.
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I'm usually forced to go during the most busy times plus bringing the infant along is a pain. Occasionally I'm forced to leave early if he starts freaking out, I'd rather leave than treat the entire grocery store to my kid's high pitched wail while I peruse the aisles. The return trip just eats more time. I may have embellished a little with 2-3, but 2 hours per week isn't an unusual occurrence.
 
If I still lived in Aspen it would be well worth the yearly cost. I couldn't afford to shop in Aspen, so I had to drive to Glenwood Springs, about 45 miles away where the prices were fairly normal in the large supermarkets. Driving 90 miles round trip in blizzard conditions would be well worth the cost if nothing else, in the gas savings alone, not to mention the aggravation.
 
MajorDomo said:
If I still lived in Aspen it would be well worth the yearly cost. I couldn't afford to shop in Aspen, so I had to drive to Glenwood Springs, about 45 miles away where the prices were fairly normal in the large supermarkets. Driving 90 miles round trip in blizzard conditions would be well worth the cost if nothing else, in the gas savings alone, not to mention the aggravation.
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Most likely, as with Prime...such a scenario would not be eligible for this service.

Amazon is doing this for their own profits...not your convenience. And precisely your kind of scenario is how you don't make money.
 
I like my grocery store.

Prices are reasonable, huge selection of fresh produce, excellent bakery and sushi section. They also have a free child care service which is pretty amazing, I get at least an hour of shopping without kids. If I don't want to shop that long they have a great eatery where I can sit down, have a quick bite to eat or a drink while the kids play. Never ever have to put up with shitty people and their shitty kids. They are all shopping at Wal-Mart to save $3.

Yea, Wegmans is awesome.
 
Exavior said:
I could see 1.5 - 2 hours for some people or if it was really busy. I have always selected times to go where the store isn't that busy had already had in mine somewhat what I was going to get instead of going down every single isle and trying to decide if anything looked good. I get in, fill and cart and get out in about 30 - 45 minutes.
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Even at 30 minutes driving, shopping, and paying per month, it still works out cheaper to pay Amazon $300 per year if you make anything more than $20 bucks per hour.
 
Grahamkracka said:
I'm usually forced to go during the most busy times plus bringing the infant along is a pain. Occasionally I'm forced to leave early if he starts freaking out, I'd rather leave than treat the entire grocery store to my kid's high pitched wail while I peruse the aisles. The return trip just eats more time. I may have embellished a little with 2-3, but 2 hours per week isn't an unusual occurrence.
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Yeah I get it now. I wasn't thinking of bringing a baby with me and I generally go when stores aren't very crowded. Plus, Kroger seems to generally have enough checkout people. I used to shop at wally world, but none are near hear and the last place I lived, the one closest to me was understaffed and unpleasant. OTOH, all the other Walmarts were nice, well staffed and honestly as good as Kroger, but less convenient.

I've tried Fresh Market and Whole Foods, but honestly I don't see much value there. Prices are high for pretty much the same stuff.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I like my grocery store.

Prices are reasonable, huge selection of fresh produce, excellent bakery and sushi section. They also have a free child care service which is pretty amazing, I get at least an hour of shopping without kids. If I don't want to shop that long they have a great eatery where I can sit down, have a quick bite to eat or a drink while the kids play. Never ever have to put up with shitty people and their shitty kids. They are all shopping at Wal-Mart to save $3.

Yea, Wegmans is awesome.
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I suspect most don't just go to Walmart. When I lived close to a bunch of stores, I'd got to one for some stuff another for other stuff. Then again, I mostly did that for produce, but sometimes Milk is dramatically cheaper at one store too. Since they were all close, I'd stock up at one store then the next trip I'd go to the other...didn't hurt that one of them was near the movie theater, so I could combine trips :D

These days, I only go to Kroger, except for some low sugar Smuckers that I can only find at Walmart so I buy 2-3 months worth at a time.
 
I order with Prime 2-3 per week, and hate going to the market, so I signed up for the trial. I could never complete my typical shopping list to avoid a trip to the market, so I never used it I completely forgot about it, then got the bill for $299. Yikes! Fortunately it was easy enough to cancel and drop back down to just Prime, so good on Amazon there.
 
Amazon Fresh is anything but. I tried them for a while, but the produce was consistently bad, and the perishables were always within days of expiration. I then fell back to just non perishables, but in soon realized that if I was going to the store anyways, it was just easier to do it all at one place.
 
Megalith said:
I predict a significant exodus of AmazonFresh customers. What’s your experience with grocery delivery services?

Later, Amazon delayed the rollout from June to the end of September and started experimenting with a two-tiered subscription model in California, allowing regular Amazon Prime members ($99/year) to use AmazonFresh, but with a delivery fee. (There’s no delivery fee on orders above $50 for the higher-level Prime Fresh members.)
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$300 / 52 weeks = $5.77/week.

For most people, they wind up spending about this in gas alone going for groceries.

Plus, as people have been pointing out for self-built computers and Linux/BSD for years. How much is your time worth to you?

Most of the time, trips to the grocery store are 30-minutes minimum.

Yeah, the up-front $300 kick in the balls is kinda rough.
But when you look at it (REALLY look at it), it's actually not that horrendous.
 
nilepez said:
I suspect most don't just go to Walmart. When I lived close to a bunch of stores, I'd got to one for some stuff another for other stuff. Then again, I mostly did that for produce, but sometimes Milk is dramatically cheaper at one store too. Since they were all close, I'd stock up at one store then the next trip I'd go to the other...didn't hurt that one of them was near the movie theater, so I could combine trips :D

These days, I only go to Kroger, except for some low sugar Smuckers that I can only find at Walmart so I buy 2-3 months worth at a time.
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The big problem with WalMart is the product variability.
Each store's actual product volume for some items is fairly low compared to local supermarkets out here.
Their selection is less broad.
Their store layouts aren't consistent.
And there's times when you can only find certain products at certain locations (which, for WalMart, IS FUCKING NUTS).
Last year, I tried hitting two different local WalMarts for 2 liter bottles of Coca Cola (not an odd product to buy) every couple days for 8 weeks. Both locations were CONSTANTLY sold out (no more product in the back either).
 
My grocery shopping experience would be a lot more pleasant if people were considerate of others in how they maneuver their frickin' buggies. Act like you do when you're driving: don't bow up and stop in the middle of an isle; try and pass on the right; look both ways before pulling out into traffic; etc. Idiots act like they're the only ones in their own little world, completely unaware that they are sharing space with others.
 
The Safeway here is in a College town and ooohwweeee during spring time...all I see are yoga pants and short shorts. Cant give that up. :D
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I like my grocery store.

Prices are reasonable, huge selection of fresh produce, excellent bakery and sushi section. They also have a free child care service which is pretty amazing, I get at least an hour of shopping without kids. If I don't want to shop that long they have a great eatery where I can sit down, have a quick bite to eat or a drink while the kids play. Never ever have to put up with shitty people and their shitty kids. They are all shopping at Wal-Mart to save $3.

Yea, Wegmans is awesome.
Click to expand...

Wegmans is by far the coolest grocery store. They have modern shit, the store just feels "expensive", and they have the freshest looking fruits/veggies (badass sushi too). That being said, I despite grocery shopping. I'm in and out with a list like it's no one's business. I actually fast-walk too just to make it go by even faster, right down to saying "Yeah, yeah, put the shit in the bag, c'mon, HURRY UP!" in my head when I'm at the register.

Fuck Walmart too.
 
Doesn't Fresh Direct do this already? I don't recall having to pay 300 dollars either. I used to buy from the supermarket and now the people just bring it to my house. The fruit and produce is very fresh too.
 
Crosshairs said:
I understand that feeling, but if this was available near me, I would be all over it..

$300.00 a year and I dont have to deal with the inconsiderate fucks at the local grocery store who always want to run me over with their cart as their snot nosed kids knock all the food off the bottom 3 shelves....
Click to expand...

24/7 grocery stores for the win. No kids at 2AM in the morning.
 
Sounds pretty reasonable to me. Its not something I would do as I don't do much grocery shopping anymore but I can see how this could benefit a select group of people.

+1 to wegmans being awesome, miss it since I moved to TN
 
I go to Walmart for a lot of groceries. If I can, though, I go to WinCo (used to be Cub Foods). Lower prices.

Meat is usually not on that list. For meats, I go to Fred Meyer or Costco. Both seem to have great meat where I'm at. If I am doing a nice BBQ and want some better stuff, I go to the local meat company and pay a little more but get a higher quality meat.
 
Crosshairs said:
I understand that feeling, but if this was available near me, I would be all over it..

$300.00 a year and I dont have to deal with the inconsiderate fucks at the local grocery store who always want to run me over with their cart as their snot nosed kids knock all the food off the bottom 3 shelves....
Click to expand...

+1 like no other.

I'd still be curious how Amazon manages to keep the cost of delivery off the customers' heads. Some food items are expensive enough without another layer of cost being added into the stack.
 
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