Amazon Launches Prime Pantry, A New Way to Grocery Shop
With their latest service Prime Pantry, Amazon wants to help you stock your paltry pantry with “low-priced everyday essentials in everyday sizes.” Better yet — they’ll deliver them to your home in a one-size-fits-whatever-you-can-fit-into-it-up-to-45lbs box.
Yaaaa — WAIT! Don’t they already do that? Yup. Kind of. Well, there’s Amazon Fresh, their grocery delivery service, the shopping-by-photo-taking Amazon Flow and (the coolest option!!!) Amazon Dash, an at-home scanner and Siri-like companion that lets you scan or say what you need to restock your hizzy with.
Prime Pantry is a semi-exclusive service only available to Prime members. Don’t get all cocky though, Primeys — although the benefit of paying for the membership is that you generally don’t have to throw down for shipping on Amazon shopping, shipping on Prime Pantry is a flat $5.99. If you’re already coughing up $79 ($99 soon enough) a year for Prime, we know you’re probably like, um, haha that’s why I HAVE PRIME, jerks! And you would be totally justified in yelling that at the computer right now.
We like the idea of the box, which might help curb your own personal battle with bulk buying and overconsumption. By calling out “everyday sizes” along with low prices, Amazon suggests they’ll be offering you a CostCo-esque deal on Walgreens-size products that won’t take you years in your post-apocalyptic bunker to use up. The coolest feature we can spot on the tech side, is that a virtual Prime Pantry box shows up on the side of your screen while you’re shopping. It “fills up” as you add items to your cart so you’ll know if you’re reaching your limit or can squeeze another snack in.
You’re still probably trying to figure out what would make Prime Pantry a better buy than similar services like Soap.com (which, btw, offers free shipping after you hit $49, easy to do if you’re stocking up on groceries and assorted home goods). Since shipping is a flat price up to 45 pounds, you could game the Prime Pantry system by using it to buy anything that’s heavy: canned goods, laundry detergent, oils, bricks, cleaning supplies. And since not everything on Amazon has a Prime shipping option, you might end up saving on certain items not normally under the Prime umbrella. We’ll buy their “lower prices” claim too. A quick skim through their popular products, did get the coupon cutter in us to take notice.
Would you try filling your pantry with Prime Pantry? Do you buy groceries at the store or online? Sound off below!
