Amazon’s same-day push is already disrupting grocers

The company’s pursuit of faster delivery is boosting sales in key pantry and general merchandise categories, according to one expert. Can it overcome the “trust chasm” in fresh?

What happened

Amazon’s announcement last week that it’s adding fresh groceries to its same-day delivery service stirred anew the debate over whether U.S. consumers are ready to buy a significant amount of produce, milk, meat and other perishables from an online-only service.

But that debate misses what’s arguably the larger threat to grocers: the rapid growth of Amazon’s same-day service, which is already helping the company sell more goods that food retailers also offer, such as pet food, pantry items and household cleaners.

Why it matters

These fast-moving consumer goods — or “essentials,” as Amazon calls them — are high-margin items that many grocers rely on to turn a profit. For years, the e-commerce giant has been commanding a significant portion of these sales — and the signals so far from same-day delivery indicate that its share of consumer goods purchases is getting bigger.

“They've essentially been attacking the non-fresh side of a supermarket through this same-day-or-faster proposition. And it has worked,” said Jordan Berke, founder and CEO of digital retail consultancy Tomorrow Retail Consulting.

Although Amazon hasn’t released details about the performance of its same-day service specifically, it has made clear that it’s seeing growing demand for faster delivery. Last year, Amazon shipped more than 9 billion orders for same- or next-day delivery worldwide, and during this year’s second quarter delivered 30% more items in the U.S. for same or next-day service compared with the same period in 2024, according to company earnings calls.

This news brief is based on reporting published by Grocery Dive on 2025-08-18. The original report is linked below.