Amazon is already the web’s largest retailer, but that doesn’t seem to be good enough, as a new report suggests that the company is planning to launch brick-and-mortar grocery stores focused solely on fresh items.
The report, from the Wall Street Journal, suggests that Amazon is poised to roll out a chain of small stores that cater to grocery shoppers. The stores will carry fruits and vegetables, as well as dairy and deli items. Dry goods and other food items can be ordered from the store as well, though customers in many locations can already do this right through Amazon proper.
Perhaps most interesting, the report claims that only Amazon customers who subscribe to the Amazon Fresh grocery service will be able to shop at the locations. This would also suggest that Amazon is only planning on rolling out its grocery retail stores in the limited number of locations where Amazon Fresh is available.
Amazon’s eventual foray into physical grocery stores has been rumored for a while, so while the details are new, they’re not entirely unexpected. However, one new development detailed in the report is that other brick-and-mortar Amazon stores may also be in the works, potentially to show off its in-house electronics devices like the Kindle and Fire lineups.