Amazon Toying With Drive-Through Grocery Idea

Amazon.com’s next foray into the grocery business may put it in direct competition with retailers such as Publix as it aims to take its online “pantry” into the brick-and-mortar world.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal is reporting the company’s new grocery concept would enable customers to order their groceries online via the Amazon.com website and then pick them up at drive-through store locations. The prototype store would be an 11,600-square-foot location, the publication reports.

While it’s unclear when – or even if – the concept would come to the Tampa Bay area, the journal speculates such a move could prove to be a real threat to Lakeland-based Publix Super Markets.

Amazon.com already has extensive distribution centers in the region, including one in Ruskin. Those centers could serve to supply a network of drive-through locations.

Publix was recently the No. 2 most reputable retailer in America by The Reputation Institute. Amazon.com led the rankings, the journal noted. The super market chain also came in second to Trader Joe’s in a national customer survey conducted by Market Force Information. Trader Joe’s also beat out Publix in the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

Check out the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s full story here.

What are your thoughts on this? Share them by commenting below.

image via Shutterstock