Ice-cream, pasta, coffee… and now fresh fruit and vegetables. Italians love them and now, starting with those living in Milan, they can order all of those products via a smartphone app and have them delivered within an hour.
Indeed, yesterday may well come to be seen as the dawn of a fresh produce retail revolution in Italy after e-commerce giant Amazon presented a major new challenge to the country’s traditional supermarket chains by selling fresh fruit and vegetables through its Prime Now service.
Some of Italy’s leading fresh produce companies – including Peviani, which markets branded products in the country on behalf of Irish group Fyffes and South African supplier Capespan – have signed up to supply around 30 different types of fruit and vegetables through the online network, which began a limited roll-out of its produce offer on Monday 15 February in Milan and the surrounding area.
“The 30 types of fresh produce make Prime Now’s offer broader and more varied, responding to customers who want to receive products that are part of their daily shop at home,” commented Mariangela Marseglia, Prime Now’s EU director.
“Fruit and vegetables will be delivered directly to the door from eight in the morning until midnight, seven days a week, using the Prime Now service with delivery in an hour or in two-hour windows.”
With a €19 minimum spend to guarantee free delivery in a two-hour time slot, delivery within an hour costs an additional €6.90.
But Amazon is aiming to entice plenty of Milanesi to try the new service by offering a €20 discount on their first €50 shop.
That effectively gives them their first year’s subscription to Amazon Prime free of charge.
Fresh produce is expected to be added to the Amazon Prime Now service in other Italian cities in the near future.
No comments yet