The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
44°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Can Amazon persuade enough people to buy fresh food online?

A Whole Foods Market purchase awaits placement in a car trunk, outside the Jackson, Miss., store Friday, June 16, 2017. Amazon is buying Whole Foods in a stunning move that gives it hundreds of stores across the U.S., a brand-new laboratory for radical retail experiments that could revolutionize the way people buy groceries. (Rogelio V. Solis / AP)
By Anne D’Innocenzio Associated Press

NEW YORK – Can Amazon, the company that persuaded people to buy ever more items online, win enough of them over to having their fresh groceries arrive in an Amazon box?

If the $13.7 billion deal for Whole Foods goes through, Amazon gets the advantage of using the stores as mini-distribution hubs to deliver items to customers. But online delivery of groceries has been tough to pull off.

Some shoppers worry about the quality of their produce and say they’re rather pick their pears themselves. And shoppers may be skittish about having Amazon take over one more element of their shopping experience.

Analyst Madeline Hurley at research firm IBISWorld says books are more homogenous than groceries, and people want to know what they’re getting in terms of foods.