Amazon's Rumored 'Pantry' Expansion Opens in 2014, Will Compete Against Costco
Starting sometime next year, Amazon envisions household items shipping straight form its Pantry to yours. The online vendor's Pantry service will allow Amazon Prime members to buy consumer packaged goods in a specifically sized box with a maximum limit, a move that would put the company in direct competition with bulk warehouses like Costco and Sam's Club.
According to USA Today and the secretive sources it spoke with, Amazon's Pantry service will launch in 2014 with around 2,000 products, the types of which you'd normally find in the center aisles of grocery stores. Items will include cleaning supplies, paper towers, pet food, cereal, and things of that nature.
Cat food is one of types of items Amazon Pantry will carry.
When ordering these goods, customers will be able to stuff a set sized box full of these goods up to a maximum weight limit. Provided the customer doesn't go over the weight limit, Amazon will ship out the box for a small fee.
It's not hard to see why Amazon would want to do this. At present, the consumer packaged goods (CPG) market is worth in the neighborhood of $850 billion per year in the U.S. alone. The bulk of those dollars go to brick-and-mortar establishments, which means there's a ginormous opportunity for Amazon to swoop in and grab some of those dollars.
Amazon also recently announced that it one day plans to have flying drones deliver goods to households. Perhaps they'll be used to drop off toilet paper and Pantry items, too.
According to USA Today and the secretive sources it spoke with, Amazon's Pantry service will launch in 2014 with around 2,000 products, the types of which you'd normally find in the center aisles of grocery stores. Items will include cleaning supplies, paper towers, pet food, cereal, and things of that nature.
Cat food is one of types of items Amazon Pantry will carry.
When ordering these goods, customers will be able to stuff a set sized box full of these goods up to a maximum weight limit. Provided the customer doesn't go over the weight limit, Amazon will ship out the box for a small fee.
It's not hard to see why Amazon would want to do this. At present, the consumer packaged goods (CPG) market is worth in the neighborhood of $850 billion per year in the U.S. alone. The bulk of those dollars go to brick-and-mortar establishments, which means there's a ginormous opportunity for Amazon to swoop in and grab some of those dollars.
Amazon also recently announced that it one day plans to have flying drones deliver goods to households. Perhaps they'll be used to drop off toilet paper and Pantry items, too.
