I believe there is a lot of hype is created around Amazon fresh.
Here is 4 common sense reasons (note, I do not quote any source or statistics, it should all be common knowledge) why it will probably not succeed, at least in Germany:
- Germany has the highest density of supermarkets in Europe and extremely competitive prices. Retailers who made it here are the toughest to beat. Think purchasing power, economics of scale and supply chain.
- Amazon has no food expertise. Amazon has, by the way, also no DIY expertise. If it gets bulky, dirty or cool and basically does not fit into a parcel, Amazon has a problem to scale. Starting just in a part of Berlin with some DHL Food-Trucks is not exactly an impressive start for Amazon Fresh.
- Others are on top of the food-chain. What is the biggest eCommerce company by far? Hint: it’s not Amazon and it’s not Alibaba. Food is the king of retail, we all consume food every day. Think of it. Maybe the real retail battle is fought between Aldi, the Schwarz Group (Lidl, Kaufland) and Wal-Mart and will probably be decided in the US, with streamlined and efficient German companies giving their competition a hard pretzel to chew on.
- The people who hype Amazon Fresh drive Teslas, have golden Apple Watches, Macs and a whole lot of other gadgets. They probably can’t relate to people who can’t just trade off price-savings for convenience. Normal people will also look at the budget they have to spend for their daily purchases (food!). They will go to Aldi and Lidl, because it is not too inconvenient if there are at least five supermarkets on the way back from work to stop by.