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Amazon Pantry is Being Discontinued as Amazon Consolidates its Grocery Delivery Services (theverge.com) 55

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Amazon has announced that it has discontinued its Amazon Pantry services (originally known as Prime Pantry), instead rolling those household goods and shelf-stable pantry items into the main Amazon website where they can be ordered alongside the rest of Amazon's products. From a report: Originally launched back in 2014, Pantry worked differently from most Amazon orders. Instead of following the usual Amazon delivery rules, Pantry orders charged customers a flat $5.99 shipping fee per box of groceries, which could be filled with up to 45 pounds of products or up to four cubic feet of stuff (whichever limit customers reached first). The focus of the program was to make it easier to stock up on everyday products that would otherwise be bulky or expensive to ship, like bottled water, paper goods, flour, canned food items, boxes of cereal, and more.
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Amazon Pantry is Being Discontinued as Amazon Consolidates its Grocery Delivery Services More

Amazon Pantry is Being Discontinued as Amazon Consolidates its Grocery Delivery Services

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  • instead of employees. They ship out of the Whole Foods stores. That's why they bought them. Sort of how like the cell phone companies were buying up old Radio Shacks.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by EvilSS ( 557649 )
      Amazon Fresh uses Whole Foods, but not Pantry, and the items moving over will go to the Amazon distribution centers not Whole Foods. Amazon Fresh is much more limited in availability due to Whole foods not being everywhere.
  • Why, unless you're physically incapable of getting to a grocery store yourself, would you have some stranger pick your groceries out for you?
    I'm not even talking about the delivery part, just the other-human-you-never-met-touching-your-foodstuffs part.
    Especially if we're talking about meat and produce. Not so much pre-packaged things.
    For what it's worth, I wouldn't even trust someone I know to pick out meat and produce for me. They're very personal choices.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by chiguy ( 522222 )

      People have different tolerances for risk.

      Do you ever eat at a restaurant? I'd say you're more likely to get spit on your restaurant burger than your groceries contaminated.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cusco ( 717999 )

        It's not the contamination (you wash meat and produce before eating after all, right?), it's the quality. We were at a friend's house once when their grocery store delivery came in. Green bananas, rock-hard tomatoes, mushy mushrooms. No thanks. Cooking good food requires good ingredients, and we eat **VERY** well (I married a Peruvian after all).

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dcw3 ( 649211 )

          Cooking good food requires good ingredients, and we eat **VERY** well (I married a Peruvian after all).

          Not having been exposed to Peruvian food before going there a few years ago, it was one of the more surprising aspects of our 8 day trip. Nearly every meal we ate was amazingly good. That was three years ago, and I've yet to find a U.S. based Peruvian restaurant that comes close in quality to what we had there.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by cusco ( 717999 )

            San Fernando Roast Chicken in Seattle is pretty good, they're from the north of the country so it's a bit different than what my wife cooks but still great. Peru has every climate from glacier and tundra to tropical rain forest and the driest desert in the world, so you can grow almost anything. There are fruits and vegetables there that you can get nowhere else, when we go visit we always come back weighing more than when we left.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by dcw3 ( 649211 )

              I could see that, but we were doing the touristy thing, hiking around Machu Picchu and Cusco (National Geographic tour) for hours at 8-14,000 feet. You tend to burn off a few calories.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by cusco ( 717999 )

                If you ever decide to go back and have a spare couple of days we have a house in Paruro, a town of 5000 near Cusco, and my brother-in-law who lives there is an amazing cook. Eat potatoes that were in the ground that morning and meat that was browsing grass the day before, and it will be cheaper than a mid-priced hotel in Cusco. That's my email up above.

      • As another commentor ('cusco') below you already said: it's the quality. Pre-packaged (i.e. boxes and cans) are one thing. Meat and produce are another entirely. I don't want someone to just grab the first steak or bananas they see and throw them in a bag, and I don't trust anyone else's judgement.
        A restaurant is held to a higher standard than some rando grabbing things off shelves and throwing them in a bag.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by waspleg ( 316038 )

      I'm in your first category, can't drive (medical), but the answer is, at the bare minimum, to save time and limit CV-19 exposure. Sure, my wife could go to the store instead.

      I've been a Shipt member for a couple years now, and they actually do background checks on their shoppers, unlike, say, DoorDash (which I'm also a member of, and has recently started pushing grocery/convenience stores super hard on their platform), whom I would never order regular groceries from, but am fine getting lunch (waiting on a

    • I'm not even talking about the delivery part, just the other-human-you-never-met-touching-your-foodstuffs part. For what it's worth, I wouldn't even trust someone I know to pick out meat and produce for me. They're very personal choices.

      Plenty of people have touched your foodstuffs before they appear on the grocery store shelf. One more doesn't make a big difference.

      But I understand your hesitancy regarding trusting anyone else to pick out fresh items. I used to feel the same way. Turns out they're just as good as it as I was (a low bar, perhaps).

      I started with grocery delivery because of the covids, but I love it so much I'll keep doing it forever. And in case you were wondering, yes, I'm a lazy person.

      • It has nothing to do with 'contamination'. It has to do with QUALITY. I don't want someone else's judgement. They send me meat or produce I don't like, I'm stuck with it. No thanks!

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jabuzz ( 182671 )

          So here in the UK in a supermarket the meat is either prepackaged (mostly) or they might have a butchers counter, where you ask for X and the butcher prepares and packages it to you before handing over.

          I can also take a short walk and get meat from my local independent butcher which is the same as the butcher counter at the supermarket.

          So explain how you choose the quality of the meat exactly other than by specifying the cut of meat you want or the perhaps the range. For example I could get a standard beef

          • even within the same grade, there are shocking differences in beef from different producers. I always pick and choose based on what's available, because sometimes that "chuck" is gorgeously marbled and cut well, and other times it's pure lean and hacked up. the labelling and pricing is exactly the same... all the butchers i've ever been to have the meat on display in a glass case. if you don't like the quality of what they're offering, you don't buy it. that doesn't happen with online orders. they just gr
    • Maybe you should try it before you knock it? I'm fine with it and don't miss going to the grocery store at all. The few times there's been a problem with my order were handled by (amazon/whole foods and instacart) customer support with refunds. The meat and veggies have been just as good as what I would pick 99% of the time.
      • How nice for you. No thanks, though. Why would I pay some rando to do what I can do for myself and feel 100% satisfied with what I came home with? Also much of the time I make specific choices from general categories. 100% CANNOT trust someone else to do that for me, don't understand how anyone could. Perhaps you just have lower standards than I do?

        • I have considerably lower standards and do not care to spend my time worrying over produce or meat selection. Even when I go to the store, I just grab something thatâ(TM)s not obviously damaged and throw it in.

          Not everyone is like you or has the same preferences. I wholeheartedly support your preference to personally pick out your produce, but I donâ(TM)t share it and Iâ(TM)m not an idiot for not sharing it.

          • See, here's the thing: if I used one of these 'services', I might get someone with your mindset picking out meat and produce for me. *shudder*
            You're entitled to your own preferences, but I don't think I'm all that unusual when it comes to things like this.

    • Not so much pre-packaged things.

      "Amazon Pantry" is (was?) 100% prepackaged foods.

    • You think that same stuff isn't touched by human hands to just be manufactured, boxed, shipped, stored, stocked... then how many times as it been picked up and put back on the shelf by shoppers...

      That steak was raised, slaughtered, cut, processed. How many people have stood over that cut of steak, poked at it, and picked it up and then thought "nah, i'll go to store-y to try to get it cheaper" before putting it back?

      oh, my... you are going to starve if you're worried about just ONE more person in that chain

      • AGAIN: Not 'contamination', it's QUALITY according to my own standards. If I'm eating it, I want to see/pick it myself, first. No rely on some stranger.

    • Demographics are different for everyone.

      I used to live in the city and for the first year I set out to only use public transportation and my feet. I would occasionally use a zip car, but that was really demanding when it came to scheduling.
      Letâ(TM)s ignore the other issue in that every damned time the other driver was late.

      I was a very early prime delivery customer because I could get all the dry goods dropped off in the early hours. I found out very quickly I didnâ(TM)t like their fruit or meat s

      • I just looked up zipcar (never heard of it before.)

        You pay $7 a month to rent a car for (at least) $11 per hour? Is that much cheaper than an Uber?

        Does the car get delivered to you or do you need to use a bus/uber to get to the zipcar location to then pay and drive the care?

        It looks interesting but really wondering if it's cheaper than a car rental or uber.

    • Why, unless you're physically incapable of getting to a grocery store yourself, would you have some stranger pick your groceries out for you?

      A massive amount of convenience. From the comfort of my home, I can select a bunch of goods, including large, bulky ones and have them arrive in a one hour timeslot. It would probably take me at least an hour to do a large shop just walking round and checking out, never mind getting to and from the store.

      I'm not even talking about the delivery part, just the other-huma

      • I usually save money too as I tend to end up impulse buying when I go to the store.

        That said, I am rarely organized enough to plan for food delivery,

        • TBH I don't do it that often.

          I don't have a car, so when I start running low on a bunch of stuff that's bulky or heavy, usually rice, pasta, tins, toilet roll and kitchen paper, I shop online. I also them stock up on cleaning stuff instead. I only do it a few times a year. Or if I'm planning a party, but that's not really been a thing recently...

          I have tons of storage space, so I've got like 6 months supply of laundry detergent down there from the last shop. It's amazingly convenient, so I very rarely need

    • Never underestimate human laziness

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dcw3 ( 649211 )

        Never underestimate human laziness

        True, however for some of us, it's a more efficient use of our time.

        Reminds me of when I got stuck taking over an overdue project that required 70-80 hours/wk, and I decided to hire someone to mow my yard. I often wasn't home during daylight, and even when I was, I was usually too tired, or just needed the down time. Made total sense to me. Now, the fact that I never went back to mowing my own lawn is another story...I've gotten lazy in my old age.

    • Because it saves me from having to go to supermarkets, which are the number one places to catch COVID and apart from that unpleasant and time consuming. They seem to be full of frustrated people who go out of their way to try and start arguments. I don't enjoy shopping, I hate queueing, and I hate the way they always rip everyone off on discount stickers.

      At first I wasn't keen on someone else picking my produce, but Amazon fresh have never done me wrong. Other supermarkets have a frustrating habit of missin

      • So you've never got a cut of meat from them that had too much fat or just didn't look good to you, or crappy fruits and vegetables?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by stikves ( 127823 )

      I have switched to mostly Amazon groceries after several local Costco locations had big corona outbreaks. It is safer than going in a store and spending up to an hour inside when air is the worst (best?) transmitter of the disease.

      This is actually safer for the store workers, too. Because deliveries are "contactless", and nobody except the employees and riders would go into the building.

      If you are paranoid, you can store the items "in quarantine" for a day. If you don't like something, they will give a refu

    • "Why"
      30 minutes each way on the bus to store A, 40 minutes each way walking to store B, or have stuff shipped to my door. What's hard to understand?

      "to pick out meat and produce for me"

      Most of my groceries by weight are NOT meat or produce. Anything in a box or can is the same no matter who picks it off the shelf

    • I agree. I think this is because those people have never heard of meat marbling, ripeness and other properties we use to gauge quality/readiness of our food.
      This just shows what standards some people have.

      • Yep. Example: most of the time I go to get bananas they're either not going to be edible for a couple days, or are going to only be suitable for banana bread tomorrow. Sometimes I have to go to more than one store just for bananas, to find them ripe enough to eat now, but not going to fall apart in my backpack three days from now.
        Another example: if I buy a steak, I want leaner rather than a huge sheaf of fat on it. I also don't want it so shot through with fat.
        I eat lots of chicken breast. I get it at Wi

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by erice ( 13380 )

      Other people are always going to be touching your foodstuffs. At least with delivery, you have some virus decay time where only one person is touching your food. Further, by not going into the store, you aren't directly exposed to the staff and other shoppers. That is a much bigger risk than via the food.

      Now, wanting to choose your own food, I understand. Good produce selection isn't simply grab and toss in cart but grab and toss in the cart is what you get with delivery. Most of the time the shoppers

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dcw3 ( 649211 )

      I know you stated "unless you're physically incapable", and that's exactly the reason we've used delivery services for my mom and mother-in-law (they live alone in other states). But I wanted to point out that we've generally had a good experience with Amazon, and a couple other services, and that includes meats and produce. There's likely to be a time when you or a loved one is in need, so I'd suggest sucking it up and figuring out which work best for you.

  • Interesting side note (Score:3)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Friday January 08, 2021 @12:57PM (#60911468)

    As this story sits at the top of the main Slashdot page, right beside it is a "Slashdot Top Deals" offer for what appears to be an Amazon two-pack of Sizzling Strawberry lip balm... for $30.

    And that's with Slashdot purportedly giving me an "ad free" experience for having been here so long...

  • I mean Amazon Fresh, Amazon Pantry and Amazon Whole Foods?

    Yeah, there are technical differences. Those should be behind the scenes. no reason at all to have three different services to confuse people. Confused me a ton when I thought I had reached enough food to get free delivery, but no, it was split among three services.

    So I said screw it and went to Instacart.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Joosy ( 787747 )

      Amazon Fresh, Amazon Pantry and Amazon Whole Foods?

      no reason at all to have three different services to confuse people. Confused me a ton when I thought I had reached enough food to get free delivery, but no, it was split among three services.

      So I said screw it and went to Instacart.

      Same with me.

      For Amazon it was surprisingly chaotic, as if implemented by Google.

    • The difference is the only one that ever served anywhere I lived is going away.

  • Amazon pantry was expensive, and I'm willing to bet the alternative is also.

  • Shipping Costs (Score:3)

    by crow ( 16139 ) on Friday January 08, 2021 @01:54PM (#60911710) Homepage Journal

    Amazon Pantry was all about consolidating orders to manage shipping costs to keep their prices reasonable. This was started back when most Amazon packages were delivered by delivery companies like UPS. Now the majority of Amazon deliveries are handled by Amazon directly, so presumably the cost is much lower. This may eliminate the need to keep it as a separate service. Meanwhile keeping it as a separate service requires maintaining different packaging and separate systems to manage it in the Amazon distribution centers, which may mean Pantry orders ship from fewer centers, increasing the shipping costs.

    So they ran the numbers and found it was cheaper to just ship them like any other Amazon item, so they're terminating the service.

  • But do they still expect tipping? (Score:3)

    by hawk ( 1151 ) <hawk@eyry.org> on Friday January 08, 2021 @02:17PM (#60911796) Journal

    I started an order on one of the amazon foods things, accidentally.

    I got to the end, and it turned out that they *also* "recommended" a $5 tip, as they underpay their drivers.

    Nothing doing.

    Either quote me a complete price that I can compare, or don't. Don't pretend to have "free shipping" that you expect me to subsidize.

    haw

  • Could any Amazon Pantry users comment on price changes since Pantry has been discontinued? My impression is that regular Amazon prices are now much higher for these goods.

  • Tried out Pantry and the limited selection along with confusing "fill a box" made sure I never used it more than twice. Tried Instacart and it was OK, just OK. Walmart+ is great when you turn off substitutions for almost everything, with actually useful suggestions and lists. I don't know how amazon got it so wrong when Walmart was great out of the gate and worth the subscription fee. Just my opinion, YMMV
  • Even if you had Prime, you still had to pay for shipping for Pantry.

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