Amazon and Morrisons have today announced that they are expanding their ‘Morrisons at Amazon’ same-day grocery delivery service to more cities across the UK.
It is currently available to Amazon Prime Now customers in four cities: Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, and parts of London and the home counties. The service will now be rolled out to other cities during 2019, including Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Sheffield and Portsmouth. The two groups added that it will be expanded to further cities in future years.
The expansion will see Morrisons becoming a retailer on Amazon’s Prime Now website and app, through ‘Morrisons at Amazon’, and selling directly to customers. Morrisons will continue as a wholesaler for all Amazon’s other UK grocery offers.
David Potts, Morrisons Chief Executive, said: “Morrisons conveniently located local supermarkets and Amazon’s very popular website and customer offer are an ideal combination, offering ultra-fast same day grocery home delivery for customers in and around cities across Britain.
“Amazon has been a valued partner of Morrisons for over three years, and we are pleased to be expanding our relationship together. Continuing to partner with the best digital operators such as Amazon is a significant, capital light growth opportunity for Morrisons.”
Doug Gurr, Amazon UK Country Manager, added: “We are committed to growing our grocery business so that we can continue to deliver what we know our customers will always care about – low prices, vast selection, and fast delivery – and our relationship with Morrisons is an important part of that long-term growth.
“With the Morrisons store on Prime Now, many Prime members can do their full weekly grocery shop online through Prime Now with ultra-fast same day delivery.”
Thomas Brereton, Retail Analyst for GlobalData, stated that the expansion of the partnership demonstrates both the commitment from Amazon to gain stronger credentials in the UK grocery market and Morrisons’ desire to become a more prominent – and geographically renowned – online supermarket.
He added: “Morrisons should feel confidence in this excellent move. Leveraging Amazon’s reputation and last-mile logistical capabilities will help it create a point of differentiation to its Big Four rivals, and will enhance its ability to attract the ever more demanding online shopper. And although four of the five cities are situated close to Morrisons’ main hunting ground of the North of England, promised expansion of the service into Portsmouth shows that Morrisons are looking to conquer more of the South.”
Related item: Grocery To Be Key Growth Area For Amazon In The UK
