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Amazon food delivery service arrives in Belgium
Supermarkets have been warned to prepare for fierce competition by Amazon Pantry, a branch of the internet giant that allows customers to order groceries for home delivery. The service is already a hit in the US and UK and is now available in Belgium.
According to Gino Van Ossel, a retail expert at Vlerick Business School, “it is certainly a threat to our supermarkets”. One problem faced by traditional retailers is price: for example, one litre of cola sells on Amazon for €1.15, whereas Collect & Go – a division of Colruyt – sells the same bottle for €1.57. Pantry costs €49 for a year’s subscription, plus €3.99 for delivery of the first 20kg box.
“Amazon has experience with e-commerce, whereas most Belgian players are not ready for major competition in that area,” Malaika Brengman, a retail expert from the Free University of Brussels (VUB), told VRT. “Belgian supermarkets, be prepared for the worst.”
Only 9% of Belgians bought food online last year, according to retail federation Comeos, but the proportion is growing each year.
Photo courtesy Amazon
Comments
The under-the-table no-competition agreement Belgian supermarkets all faithfully adhere to needs to be blown out of the water. German, French and Dutch consumers all pay considerably less for the same products as those sold in Belgium simply because there is fierce competition among the various supermarket chains. In Belgium there is no competition. They all charge the same outrageously high prices. This week, Leclerc in France is offering Actimel -noted as made in Belgium- for €2.15 for a pack with 14 drinks. Here the same product costs €3.65 for 8. And that's just one example. Those of us in Belgium can make huge savings even when paying regular prices in French/German/Dutch stores.
Consumer complacency is very costly. Hopefully more and more Belgian consumers will start to realise how much they are being ripped off and start to vote with their feet/mouse clicks.