A new Amazon brick-and-mortar bookstore opens today in Bellevue Square, making it a “tech twin” with the first, proto-store in Seattle’s University Village. “Bell Square” is also home to a Whole Foods store making Amazon the pending owners of two branded storefronts in the upscale shopping center which also boasts an Apple and Microsoft retail store.
At the same time, Amazon has launched its AmazonFresh grocery delivery service for business owners. Just this morning, the company invited Amazon Business Customers to “Start Shopping Fresh for your everyday office grocery items.”
Amazon Business is a free program, but users need to have both a Prime membership and a $15 per month add-on subscription to summon groceries to their office. To extend the Prime shipping benefit from a personal Amazon Prime account to an Amazon Business user account, users can sign up here.
On another competitive footing, rival Walmart has countered Amazon’s ambitious expansion steps by joining forces with Google.
Walmart’s “Every Day Low Prices” can soon be ordered by voice through Google Assistant, Google Home or the Google Express website or app. Existing Walmart customers can choose to link their Walmart account to Google and receive personalized shopping results based on their online and in-store Walmart purchases.
In a counter to Amazon Prime delivery, Google Express is offering free delivery as long as the order is above the Google or Walmart minimum of $35. There is still an annual fee for both Amazon Prime and Google Expess of $99 vs. $95. [24×7]
