It looks like Amazon is gearing up to take its grocery delivery service across the pond.
Amazon is readying its Amazon Fresh service for the U.K., according to sources familiar with the plans.
From the Times of London:
Plans for Amazon Fresh are at an advanced stage and it could begin operating in London in September, a development that will have the UK’s already punch-drunk supermarkets reaching for the smelling salts.
The service will pit Amazon against online delivery businesses such as Ocado, as well as Tesco and Sainsbury’s, and pile the pressure on a sector that is already battling with falling prices and the rise of discount chains.
As Re/code points out, Amazon will face stiffer competition in the U.K than it does in the States. Online sales make up an estimated five percent of all grocery sales in the U.K, and only one percent in the U.S.
Amazon Fresh is only available in a handful of U.S. markets including Seattle, New York, Philadelphia, and parts of New Jersey and California.