Amazon.com plans to launch a new supermarket brand, which is expected to be distinct from the Whole Foods Market chain the company acquired two years ago.
The announcement is a sign of the retail giant’s hunger for a slice of the grocery market beyond high-end organic food. Amazon purchased Whole Foods in a $US13.7 billion deal and is planning to make headway in the $US900 billion US grocery industry.
The e-commerce company recently advertised four job listings for “Amazon’s first grocery store” in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles. The new store is expected to open in 2020.
Online grocery shoppers in the USA prefer in-store pickup options to home delivery by nearly a 2-to-1 margin, and Amazon needs more stores to meet that growing demand.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that Amazon planned to open grocery stores under a new brand, starting with a pilot store in Los Angeles.
