Amazon is poised to launch a new business next year called Pantry that will aim to deliver boxes of bulky goods normally purchased at supermarkets.
The service will launch in the US, initially targeting Amazon Prime customers, and offer about 2,000 products such as cleaning suppliers, tinned food, breakfast cereals and beverages.
The system will be based on a set-sized box that customers will be allowed to remotely fill up or add products to a specific weight limit, whichever is reached first, according to a report in USA Today. The newspaper said the plan is still private and that Amazon did not want to comment.
Amazon, which will charge a 'small fee' for the service, is primarily targeting warehouse 'club' retailers such as Costco and Wal-Mart's Sam's Club. Club shoppers tend to be higher income groups with kids, USA Today said, quoting Amazon sources, which are a similar profile to those at Amazon.
The plan could also affect supermarkets in a similar way if it was launched in the UK. The UK's 'big four' have already - or are preparing to in the case of Morrisons - made significant in-roads into the home delivery market so may be more insulated.
The success of any UK launch would depend on the price of delivery, the options for delivery and on how competitively priced products were.
The consumer packaged good market is worth about $850 billion (£522 billion) a year in the US.
'We expect Amazon to take advantage of its strong relationship with Prime users, its existing infrastructure and its leading online channel to continue to grow aggressively in CPG,' Carlos Kirjner and other analysts at Bernstein wrote in a note to investors.
Berstein estimate the opportunity for Amazon, which has a turnover of $61 billion, could be $222 billion.
The service is expected to be run by Billy Hegeman, an Amazon senior manager in the vendor management and consumables division.
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