Everyday essentials a hit with homes as Amazon ups ante on delivery

The local boss of e-commerce giant Amazon says Australian consumers are flocking to the site to sign up for subscription deliveries of household staples as the retailer ups the ante on fast delivery in major cities.

Country manager for Amazon Australia Janet Menzies said that despite concerns about slower consumer spending, most product categories saw an uplift in sales during the company’s recent Prime Day sale event – with pantry items, beauty and personal care goods performing strongly.

“I think what is most important [at the moment] is value – and we saw on Prime Day that people are willing to spend,” she said.

Grocery and household staples have been a drawcard for customers on the platform, with Menzies highlighting strong demand for the company’s “subscribe and save” feature, which gives users a small discount for scheduling repeat deliveries of things like toilet paper, dog food and soft drinks.

“We have thought a lot about this program and when it is useful — usually, it’s something that is a consumable. And it started off as everyday essentials in the kitchen, but now you can even get ‘subscribe and save’ on [printer] toner,” Menzies said.

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It’s been close to five years since Amazon launched in Australia and while the company’s growth has been gradual, revenues surged throughout the pandemic to hit $1.75 billion in 2021. Its 2022 financials are yet to be filed with the corporate regulator.

Amazon is well-known for its superfast product delivery, with the company pioneering the model of parcels arriving in as little as two hours across the US.

On Wednesday, the company confirmed that years after making its first deliveries, it is now ready to expand free one-day delivery to hundreds of thousands of products in Melbourne and Sydney for customers who sign up to Amazon’s Prime membership program.