Amazon launches an unlimited grocery delivery subscription for Prime members and EBT customers

[kalindana]

Amazon launches an unlimited grocery delivery subscription

Get your groceries for free(ish) for orders over $35.

www.theverge.com

Amazon is bringing back free(ish) grocery deliveries for orders over $35 in the form of a new monthly subscription program the company announced today. It's $9.99 per month for Prime members and includes unlimited one-hour grocery delivery where it's available, as well as unlimited 30-minute grocery pickups, with a half-cost option for low-income non-Prime members who qualify.

Amazon launched a trial of the subscription in three cities last year but now says it's available in 3,500 cities across the US. Deliveries include groceries from Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh but also local grocers and specialty retailers that it's partnered with. Subscribers get "priority access" for recurring weekly groceries, too.

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This new subscription could be a boon for those participating in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as it can often be harder for them, physically, to get groceries, either due to time or physical limitations. There's still a $4.99 monthly fee, though, and SNAP beneficiaries can't pay that with their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card.

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Amazon announced in December that it was testing the subscription, which sits on top of the standard $14.99 per month (or $139 per year) Prime membership. The company has been tinkering with its grocery delivery program for some time, having started out with free deliveries for orders over $35 originally. It raised the free delivery threshold to $150 last year, then lowered it to $100 several months afterward. For now, the company is offering the subscription as a 30-day free trial to anyone who hasn't used it before.

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Press release:

Today, we are excited to launch a grocery delivery subscription benefit to Prime members and customers using EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) in over 3,500 cities and towns across the U.S.

At $9.99 per month for Prime members, this subscription—which pays for itself after just one delivery order per month—offers unlimited grocery delivery on orders over $35 across Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, and a variety of local grocery and specialty retailers on Amazon.com, and even more convenient delivery and pickup options. Customers with a registered EBT card can experience the same grocery subscription benefits without a Prime membership at just $4.99 per month. A free 30-day trial is available so customers can see how this grocery delivery subscription works for them.

For one low, monthly fee, customers can shop national name brands and delicious organic and natural foods as often as they need, when they need it. The subscription includes one-hour delivery windows at no extra cost where available, unlimited 30-minute pickup on orders of any size, priority access to Recurring Reservations for a weekly grocery order, as well as unlimited delivery on $35+ orders from local grocery and specialty retailers like Cardenas Markets, Save Mart, Bartell Drugs, Rite Aid, Pet Food Express, and Mission Wine & Spirits.

For customers who prefer to purchase their groceries more regularly—whether ordering delivery or pickup—this new grocery benefit will save them even more time and money on our vast selection of nearly 100,000 grocery items. Here are the details:

• For $9.99 per month, Prime members in more than 3,500 cities and towns across the U.S. have access to unlimited grocery delivery on orders over $35 from Whole Foods Market, Amazon Fresh, and the variety of local grocery and specialty retailers available on Amazon.com. Prime members who subscribe to the new grocery delivery subscription benefit will also continue to enjoy exclusive savings in Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market stores—on top of all the other savings, convenience, and entertainment that come with Prime—in one single membership.
• As part of Amazon's work to help low-income customers more affordably shop for groceries, customers with a registered EBT card can receive a discounted subscription fee of $4.99 per month to receive the grocery delivery subscription without a Prime membership.
• Subscribers will also have access to unlimited delivery for orders over $35 from local grocery and specialty retailers like Cardenas Markets, Save Mart, Bartell Drugs, Rite Aid, Pet Food Express, Mission Wine & Spirits, and more where available.
• Grocery delivery subscribers receive convenient delivery and pickup time slots for grocery orders from Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh. This includes one-hour delivery windows at no extra cost where available, unlimited 30-minute pickup on orders of any size, and priority access to Recurring Reservations for their weekly grocery order.
• The subscription pays for itself in as little as one delivery order per month from Whole Foods Market, or one delivery order per month from Amazon Fresh for under $50.

We piloted our grocery subscription with Prime members in Columbus, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; and Sacramento, California, in late 2023. In a recent survey of grocery subscribers from the pilot, more than 85% of respondents shared that they are extremely or very satisfied with the unlimited free delivery benefit. Some of the top reasons customers shared for staying a subscriber following the trial were saving money on delivery fees, and the service making their grocery shopping experience more convenient. One customer shared, "My Whole Foods orders are truly excellent. They always do an amazing job with fresh produce and meat, and with selecting substitutions when necessary. This has made a huge impact on my satisfaction with Whole Foods grocery delivery and is the #1 reason I choose it over other delivery services."

Prime members and customers with a registered EBT card can learn more about how Amazon is making grocery shopping easier, faster, and more affordable through the grocery subscription benefit, and sign up here.

Prime members who shop at Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market can also score exclusive deals both online and in-store. Eligible Prime members can earn unlimited 5% back on their purchases when using their Prime Visa online at Amazon.com, or when shopping online or in-store at Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market.

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Amazon’s new grocery delivery subscription offers big savings to Prime members and EBT customers

Prime members and customers with a registered EBT card can now get a low-cost monthly subscription with unlimited grocery delivery on orders over $35 from Whole Foods Market, Amazon Fresh, and other local grocery and specialty retailers—a benefit that pays for itself in as little as one delivery…

www.aboutamazon.com

 

[Coolduderedux]

I really don't understand Prime these days and all these add ons. I guess I wouldn't be so sour if I actually got things within two days.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

Gotta justify that Whole Foods purchase somehow I guess.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

It's not a bad deal but I'm not interested in grocery delivery personally

 

[Volimar]

Sounds great for people who have trouble getting around. I'm way too remote to take advantage myself.

Fake edit: Just checked. Not available in my area. Oh well, cheers to others though.

 

[Mesoian]

I thought food delivery was always free if it was over 35 with prime.

Granted, I haven't used the service for a very long time

 

[Mesoian]

I really don't understand Prime these days and all these add ons. I guess I wouldn't be so sour if I actually got things within two days.

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The most annoying thing about prime is how they gut a service I use and love at the same time they introduce a new interesting service that I want to try.

 

[TigerKnee]

Guess I'm an old boomer as I love going grocery shopping myself. I don't trust anyone to pick things to my preference.

 

[DJConvoy]

The most annoying thing about prime is how they gut a service I use and love at the same time they introduce a new interesting service that I want to try.

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Pretty much this. THis used to be a Prime perk, and now they want us to pay more for it. What's worse is that I'll probably cave.

 

[Coolduderedux]

Guess I'm an old boomer as I love going grocery shopping myself. I don't trust anyone to pick things to my preference.

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Every time I do a pickup from Target or Walmart, it's like they purposely grab the milk that expires the soonest so I don't blame you.

 

[ElNerdo]

Every time I do a pickup from Target or Walmart, it's like they purposely grab the milk that expires the soonest so I don't blame you.

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It's FIFO.
When stocking, the products that expire first are placed in front. Workers who grab your orders will always grab the front item. They're not "purposefully" grabbing what expires first. It's just the first item on the shelf.

 

[djplaeskool]

Might consider this. I haven't had much need for delivery when I realized I literally work next door to my local Amazon Fresh distro/pickup point.

 

[HylianSeven]

If they're able to include HEB in this, I would probably switch to this from Instacart.

 

[Soda]

I still prefer to get my groceries, and in general prefer to not use Amazon, so this is a no-go for me.

 

[abellwillring]

We usually end up ordering more to get to the $100 free delivery level now to be honest. It's obnoxious since this stuff used to just be a part of your membership, but if you do order Fresh a few times a month it makes sense to add it on. Especially if it's a 1-hour delivery rather than the 2+ that is typical.

 

[EntelechyFuff]

This new subscription could be a boon for those participating in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as it can often be harder for them, physically, to get groceries, either due to time or physical limitations. There's still a $4.99 monthly fee, though, and SNAP beneficiaries can't pay that with their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card.

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This seems like a really optimistic assertion, right?

There's no world in which it is cheaper to buy your groceries with cash + free delivery than it is to buy your groceries with EBT and pay cash for delivery. Unless you're ordering extremely small grocery orders at a time or something strange like that.

Feels like this author doesn't actually understand the considerations of people who actually interact with EBT.

EDIT: Turns out missing the bolded "that" in the above quotation completely alters the meaning of the sentence. Sounds like EBT users CAN buy groceries via Amazon, they just can't pay the delivery fee with EBT. Which is totally normal and I have zero problems with it...$4.99 for a month of delivery is extremely cheap.

 

[Lace]

Last time I looked into it I was prompted to tip upon checkout. Generally I have no issues tipping but a potentially weekly delivery service I can't justify.

 

[GrimGrinningGuy]

Last time I looked into it I was prompted to tip upon checkout. Generally I have no issues tipping but a potentially weekly delivery service I can't justify.

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I use Walmart for my grocery and always re up at Black Friday for great deals. I got a year of Walmart + for half off and added on "in home delivery" for $40 for the year, so it comes out to $7.50 a month. When you do "in home delivery" (they can still leave it outside) it's delivered by a full time Walmart employee in a Walmart refrigerated van and there are no tips. Not even an option to tip. It's way better than the door dash people that deliver the other groceries
It's awesome

 

[abellwillring]

Last time I looked into it I was prompted to tip upon checkout. Generally I have no issues tipping but a potentially weekly delivery service I can't justify.

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Yeah, they just use Uber drivers (effectively) to do the grocery deliveries, so you're expected to tip.

Kroger came to Austin for a bit (sadly pulling out next month due to disappointing sales) and had a delivery fee but the trucks were driven by their own employees so they didn't allow you to tip.. that was very nice. You could sign up for a yearly subscription thing that made the deliveries free. I think it was $60 for the year and on sale for $30 for a bit, so a really nice price.

 

[Two Peppers]

I thought food delivery was always free if it was over 35 with prime.

Granted, I haven't used the service for a very long time

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They got rid of it some time in 2023. They moved to tiered delivery prices, and free delivery was only for over $150 in a single order. I think under $50 was $10 per delivery. Ridiculous.

Not gonna sign up to get rug-pulled again, thanks.

 

[Tbm24]

Does Amazon still delivery groceries in those really nice green collapsible box/bag thing? I still have like 20 I kept from when I used to use their delivery services. Came in super handy during my last move. They're just great in general for storage.

 

[abellwillring]

Does Amazon still delivery groceries in those really nice green collapsible box/bag thing? I still have like 20 I kept from when I used to use their delivery services. Came in super handy during my last move. They're just great in general for storage.

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They use paper bags now. If cold things are inside, they have a sort of insulating liner in place. The bags don't have handles which is kind of obnoxious for when we carry them out to the recycle bin at our complex, but I am sure it's easier to mass produce and to recycle without them.

 

[weemadarthur]

This seems like a really optimistic assertion, right?

There's no world in which it is cheaper to buy your groceries with cash + free delivery than it is to buy your groceries with EBT and pay cash for delivery. Unless you're ordering extremely small grocery orders at a time or something strange like that.

Feels like this author doesn't actually understand the considerations of people who actually interact with EBT.

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The statement was about convenience, not price though. Many grocery stores don't take EBT cards for pickup and delivery orders, so SNAP recipients have to go in person.

 

[Big Tex]

It's been a while, but I remember the prices being way over the equivalent at Kroger or Market Street. Anyone checked this out lately?

 

[vypek]

If I ordered groceries often enough, I'd consider it.

 

[Mesoian]

They got rid of it some time in 2023. They moved to tiered delivery prices, and free delivery was only for over $150 in a single order. I think under $50 was $10 per delivery. Ridiculous.

Not gonna sign up to get rug-pulled again, thanks.

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Okay, so it sounds like they're rolling it back to 2020 numbers.

Maybe I'll try it out. The problem was always them not being able to get everything I wanted.

 

[EntelechyFuff]

The statement was about convenience, not price though. Many grocery stores don't take EBT cards for pickup and delivery orders, so SNAP recipients have to go in person.

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As someone who literally knows: this is inaccurate. Many big name grocery stores certainly take EBT for both pickup and delivery.

Amazon makes a lot of money off of people not understanding exactly how much they are "saving" with free delivery with standard Prime service...framing this as a "benefit" for EBT recipients just feels like an attempt to monetize this specific form of confusion while directly targeting the poor IMO.

 

[BringBackSonics]

That's worth 9.99 to us.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

So they're basically charging a monthly sub to revert back to the pre-2023 delivery pricing structure.

 

[Enduin]

Hmm not sure if this would benefit me or not. I order every week from Amazon Fresh, but my orders are always over 100 so it's free delivery. I plan out all my meals and do meal prep so I never have the need to buy something randomly throughout the week. My fear is they'll change the free delivery threshold again to be 150 or more and basically force people to sign up for this as a result.

 

[pokeystaples]

I haven't had prime in ages, but this seems like a good deal for folks who can't get around very well.

 

[aarstar]

I won't give Amazon another dime since they keep making prime worse. Plus, I don't mind shopping for my own groceries. Kind of related, I don't use services like Uber eats either, but I can see how some people may need them.

 

[arimanius]

I currently use Target delivery. Will have to check this out to see if it would be worth switching and they have the things I would want.

 

[Ingueferroque]

Does Amazon still delivery groceries in those really nice green collapsible box/bag thing? I still have like 20 I kept from when I used to use their delivery services. Came in super handy during my last move. They're just great in general for storage.

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Just paper bags now.

 

[RedHeat]

hmmm, gonna test this out when i get my snap benefits in a couple weeks

 

[skullmuffins]

This seems like a really optimistic assertion, right?

There's no world in which it is cheaper to buy your groceries with cash + free delivery than it is to buy your groceries with EBT and pay cash for delivery. Unless you're ordering extremely small grocery orders at a time or something strange like that.

Feels like this author doesn't actually understand the considerations of people who actually interact with EBT.

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I don't understand. Amazon accepts EBT for groceries. They just need to pay cash for the subscription or delivery fee.

 

[Calamari41]

It's been a while, but I remember the prices being way over the equivalent at Kroger or Market Street. Anyone checked this out lately?

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I was worried about this recently and did a spot check, and it turned out that every item I looked at was the same price or cheaper compared to my local Kroger that I go to when I do go out to shop. My concern came about when I checked for DoorDash and saw the 50% or whatever upcharge on the individual restaurant items before even factoring in their fees. In my area at least, it still makes all the sense in the world to go with Amazon grocery delivery

 

[EntelechyFuff]

I don't understand. Amazon accepts EBT for groceries. They just need to pay cash for the subscription or delivery fee.

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Damn, I think you're right. I sailed right by a critical "that" in the quote.

Reading comprehension saves lives, folks. I'll edit my earlier post.

 

[Vault Boy]

We heard you like subscription services, so we put more subscription services inside our subscription service.

 

[Chasex]

I used Amazon for grocery deliveries a few years ago and the problem was you're purchasing from Whole Foods market, basically, which is vastly more expensive than my local stores at the time. Have they fixed this?

 

[Ashhong]

I would do this if their grocery stores didn't cost more than Target

 

[arimanius]

Just doing a quick price comparison on few items I get from Target delivery and Amazon is more expensive on everything. Things like milk were double the price.

 

[jediyoshi]

Is this membership shared in a shared Prime Household?

 

[Chasex]

Just doing a quick price comparison on few items I get from Target delivery and Amazon is more expensive on everything. Things like milk were double the price.

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Yeah ok, this was was my experience before. I mean, having a discount for low income earners on assistance programs feels like a throwaway in this context when milk is double the price. Idk it almost feels predatory in some sense.

 

[Cipher Peon]

Is this going to affect me? I use Amazon Fresh and use their free shipping for orders over 100. Would rather not add another sub if I have to but their groceries are a lifesaver for me.

 

[weemadarthur]

As someone who literally knows: this is inaccurate. Many big name grocery stores certainly take EBT for both pickup and delivery.

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Ones I've researched personally all use Instacart, which didn't have EBT functionality as of….last year sometime.

If Instacart changed, or some stores have a different payment service, please let me know, I'd like to be up to date on it.

(Oh, they also didn't have free delivery as a rule, which again is pretty useless for the poorest people)

 

[thetrin]

Cool idea, but I don't really need delivery. My supermarket is quite literally right across the street from my apt. I can literally see it from my window right now. It would be BEYOND lazy of me to get delivery groceries when it takes less than 2 min to drive over to the supermarket LOL.

That said, I know it's not for me.

This new subscription could be a boon for those participating in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), as it can often be harder for them, physically, to get groceries, either due to time or physical limitations. There's still a $4.99 monthly fee, though, and SNAP beneficiaries can't pay that with their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card.

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I am curious: does this delivery service require that you live near a supermarket? As in, is this delivering from existing supermarkets, or is Amazon looking to deliver from Amazon grocery fulfillment locations? The reason I ask is that along with the low income discount via SNAP, and EBT support, I wonder if this is a play to fill the gap in food deserts throughout the US.

 

[itsrealfood]

I'd pay that fee just to finally have Fresh available here.

 

[abellwillring]

Just doing a quick price comparison on few items I get from Target delivery and Amazon is more expensive on everything. Things like milk were double the price.

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Yeah ok, this was was my experience before. I mean, having a discount for low income earners on assistance programs feels like a throwaway in this context when milk is double the price. Idk it almost feels predatory in some sense.

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I think Amazon is usually more than Target but it really just depends on what you're ordering and what your expectations are. Just doing a quick cost comparison on milk more broadly and like you said, the Whole Foods brand milk is $5.29 for a gallon, $2.79 for a half gallon. That's way more than Target's store brand stuff ($2.99 for a gallon, which is honestly shockingly cheap) but the non-store brand prices are a little closer. Fairlife: $4.79 Amazon, $4.49 Target; Horizon with DHA Omega-3: $6.49 Amazon, $5.79 Target; A2: $4.99 Amazon, $4.89 Target, etc.

Target buys a much higher quantity than Amazon Fresh I'm sure so it would make sense for them to be cheaper in general. It's mostly just about convenience either way and what your preferred place to shop is.

 

[Rae]

I am curious: does this delivery service require that you live near a supermarket? As in, is this delivering from existing supermarkets, or is Amazon looking to deliver from Amazon grocery fulfillment locations? The reason I ask is that along with the low income discount via SNAP, and EBT support, I wonder if this is a play to fill the gap in food deserts throughout the US.

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No, it just asks for people to have EBT and SNAP to buy groceries from Amazon's own grocery stores.