Provide comments to this students discussion post:

What do you think of Amazon's move to online grocery delivery? Does it give the company a competitive advantage?

Identify one of your favorite grocery stores. What attracts you to it? Can you think of anything the store has done to draw your patronage and stop you from buying online? Is there anything further they could do to retain your loyalty?

It seems as if Amazon is trying their best to completely take over all of on line retail regardless of the commodity. Numerous companies have dabbled in online grocery retail over the years, and now Amazon is looking to expand their online grocery and delivery service, Amazon Fresh, from the Seattle area to more than 20 other urban locations over the next year (Castaldo, 2013). This is a smart business move on the part of Amazon, even if they do not necessarily make a large profit in this department, they are opening the doors for future business and an expanded customer base. Other online grocery delivery chains are primarily only offering food, such as Safeway and Yummy, but Amazon will offer the consumer groceries, plus any other commodities they desire all from one website. Walmart is the only competition that is currently offering grocery and other merchandise from the online retail outlet with comparable pricing (Wells, 2013). I think this move, does give Amazon a competitive advantage. If you use a search engine today to look for online grocery shopping, Amazon Fresh will be the first on the list. It is also ranked on Life wire.com as the number one online grocery store, ahead of stores like Fresh Direct and Safeway (Boswell, 2016).

I have lived in a few different regions in the US over the past 10 years or so, but I would have to say my favorite grocery stores are Safeway (Mid-Atlantic), Publix (South East) and Smiths (South West). All of these stores have similar product and offer numerous specialty items, which is what attracts me to them. I do not think I would take part in online grocery shopping, unless absolutely necessary. I would much rather prefer to pick out my own produce, meats, and specialty items, than have someone choose the products for me.