Amazon is again putting pressure on El Corte Inglés, Mercadona, Carrefour and Lidl. The US giant, which launched its supermarket of non-perishable products in September 2015 and started selling fresh, frozen and refrigerated foods in Spain last July, has sealed an alliance with Dia to promote the sale of foods and other products under its Prime Now service, launched three months ago.This offers deliveries in one hour in Madrid and in 21 municipalities of the region.
As of this Wednesday, customers of this Amazon service can go on-line to buy food products of the La Plaza del Dia range, the retailer's premium brand, and receive them in an hour or at a time of their choosing (with delivery times every two hours). The US giant offers the supermarket the use of its ultra-fast logistics (with all the know-how and software that makes this possible) and access to premium customers of the company. In return, Amazon adds about 5,300 product references of Dia to its Prime Now catalogue, including fresh produce, non-perishable foods or household products. Amazon has launched this service with a catalogue consisting of 18,000 items.
From now on, when customers log in Prime Now, they will have to create a separate purchase basket to buy products from Amazon or La Plaza de Dia. In fact, if the customer wants to buy a bottle of orange juice, for example, and it is offered by both companies, the platform of the e-commerce giant will display the price of both and then allow you to choose "The agreement is very interesting; it is as if El Corte Inglés put on its shelves products and prices of one of its rivals and gave customers the option to choose from whom to buy them," explains an expert in the distribution sector.
Of course, as has been the case so far, the customer must make a purchase worth at least 19 Euro. As explained by the multinational in July, Prime Now customers can choose to have their order delivered in one hour for 5.90 Euro or enjoy free shipping by choosing the two-hour period that best suits them.
The partnership between Amazon and Dia is a step forward in Amazon's strategy to soon have a complete on-line supermarket in Spain (Amazon Fresh). It will also help the supermarket chain to boost its on-line strategy and compete in this field, as logistics, which are very expensive and complex, are one of the keys to success in e-commerce. Currently, Dia.es is operational in 15 Spanish provinces, although the company has also launched on-line sales for its brands Clarel and Dia Oportunidades, both available in Spain.
Source: cincodias.com
