Following the trial launch of the AmazonFresh service in Birmingham on 30 September, Brand View has reviewed how the product listings and pricing has changed in the last few weeks.
As of 22 October, AmazonFresh was the sole or joint cheapest retailer compared to six major UK FMCG retailers – it was joint cheapest for 32 of the 50 branded items available in the trial, and exclusively cheapest on eight lines.
Asda was closest to AmazonFresh in terms of price – it was eight percent more expensive on 48 commonly listed products, followed by Morrisons (14.1 percent on 43), Sainsbury’s (17.2 percent on 44), Tesco (19.5 percent on 36), Waitrose (20.7 percent on 37) and Ocado (21 percent on 44).
Our analysis shows several changes have been made to product lines available on AmazonFresh including:
- From 30 September to 22 October, eight products have been added, and two delisted
- Total products available has risen from 44 to 50
- Of the 42 products listed since 30 September, 13 have since been reduced in price, and 17 increased in price
- Amazon is now sole or joint cheapest on 32 out of 50 lines (64 percent) compared to 31 out of 44 lines (70.5 percent) previously (including discounters)
- Asda remain closest matched retailer in price – now eight percent more expensive across the matched products
- Asda, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose have all reduced the price of more matched products than they have increased since 30 Sept.
When reviewing the AmazonFresh data our in-house ecommerce experts identified a few teething problems present on the app. On the morning of 13 October there were duplicate listings of three individual products, which meant that three other listings were not visible to shoppers – this issue was rectified by the afternoon.
There was also a missing product image on the Gü Puds Chocolate Melting Middle Puds twinpack listing on 13 October. Also, AmazonFresh did not use the preferred naming detailed on the Gü brand website as “Gü Hot Chocolate Melting Middles”. Inaccurate or missing product content can be extremely damaging to shoppers’ perception of a brand and a retailer. If a shopper cannot quickly and easily identify that the product they are presented with fits their needs, they will likely take their custom elsewhere. By 22 October, these issues had been resolved.
AmazonFresh 13 October 2015
Despite Amazon’s success as an online retailer in the UK, as a new player in the fresh grocery market, AmazonFresh will need to address the glitches and eradicate instances of poor quality product representation quickly in order to compete. Although its one hour delivery slots do differentiate its services from many of the major online grocery retailers in the UK market, it should cover the fundamentals of ecommerce success Discoverability, Representation and Engagement as a priority.
Not already using Brand View products? Request a free evaluation today and experience the power of Brand View completely free of charge for 14 days.