Doug Herrington, Vice President Consumables at Amazon, gave a fascinating presentation on how the company is targeting the grocery business at the Consumer Goods Forum in Paris this week.
Amazon's ambient sales are growing strongly, he said.
A good example was one slide that showed the number of SKUs availabale at the largest hypermarket, and showed that Amazon has in excess of 1,000 breakfast cereals.
This graphic illustration must have instilled fear in Nestle, Kelloggs and other major A-brand owners.
Amazon are also promoting their wireless Amazon Dash device, which is specifically geared to sit in a consumer's kitchen, and is to be used as a re-ordering tool.
It is voice-sensitive, and technologically cutting-edge.
Herrington also spoke of the evolution of the Amazon Fresh concept in California, which sees the online colossous enter the fresh and frozen food markets for the first time.
He explained how subscribers to the Amazon Fresh module sit around the supper table and after supper, place their order after Amazon Fresh, and have the order delivered as they wake up in the morning.
But not content with getting the orders, Amazon are introducing an automatic re-ordering system, which is proving to be hugely successful.
One thing the delegates have learned in the summit is the increasing strength of Amazon in the grocery market.
© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine by Kevin Kelly, Peter Donnelly
