Amazon Inks Deal with UK Supermarket Chain Morrisons

In a recent deal with UK supermarket chain Morrisons, Amazon will soon be making available online a wide variety of food products, both fresh and frozen. Shopping for fresh produce and other food items can now be made with a simple click of a mouse.

According to The Guardian, the products sold in the fourth biggest supermarket in Britain will now be made accessible to Amazon customers in the next few months. It also noted that the move is a great one in the British supermarket industry which is also expected to hurt traditional stores.

But Morrisons chief executive David Potts is positive that the deal with Amazon was irresistible. "This is a low risk and capital light wholesale supply arrangement that demonstrates the opportunity we have to become a broader business. We look forward to working with Amazon to develop and grow this partnership over the coming months," he explained.

In a similar report, Financial Times said that some of the supermarket products which will be sold online through Amazon are orange juice, ice cream, almonds and chocolate bars. However, it claimed that this will not be a substitute for weekly supermarket visits.

Amazon is said to be launching an effort to "carve out a niche" in the convenience store industry in Britain, added the Financial Times. Richard Clarke of the investment research firm Sanford Bernstein said in the same report that convenience stores in Britain already sell goods with a higher price.

"Convenience stores are pretty big in the UK and they are already more expensive than the bigger stores, with prices that are about 6 percent higher," he explained. "If you're Amazon, that's where you can charge extra and still come out with a reasonable-sounding number."

The Guardian explained that when this deal happens in the coming months, Morrisons will have a wider online reach in the United Kingdom.