Amazon recently announced that the company’s exclusive grocery delivery service, AmazonFresh, is now available in three new cities including Phoenix.

AmazonFresh allows Amazon Prime members to have a variety of products, including fresh groceries, delivered to their home within one or two hours. The service is also being introduced in Houston and Minneapolis.

“Prime members tell us they want their stuff even faster,” said Stephenie Landry, vice president of AmazonFresh and Prime Now, Amazon’s other fast-delivery service. “We’re happy to deliver on that ask and can’t wait for customers in Houston, Minneapolis and Phoenix to take advantage of one- and two-hour delivery from AmazonFresh.”

Prime Now already offers Phoenix-area customers one- and two-hour delivery from Whole Foods Market grocery stores.

“We are thrilled to be able to bring another option for ultrafast grocery delivery to customers in Phoenix,” an Amazon spokesperson said. “Customers have said they want options for ultrafast grocery delivery, and we’ve said that we’ll continue to invest in that space.”

AmazonFresh costs $14.99 per month — an add-on to a standard Prime membership — and allows customers to shop a wider variety of items than Prime Now, from groceries to electronics to health care products.

“AmazonFresh offers Prime members tens of thousands of items — from meat, seafood, produce, snacks and household essentials to some of Amazon.com’s best-selling items like Amazon devices and more,” the spokesperson said.

The service works with Amazon’s virtual personal assistant, Alexa, so customers can ask their device to order something and AmazonFresh will deliver it automatically.

Amazon said it is committed to bringing rapid grocery delivery to Phoenix customers, which creates jobs and opportunities for independent contractors in the area.

In July, Amazon announced a plan to spend $700 million retraining 100,000 of its employees — or one-third — by 2025. The company currently employs 15,000 people in Arizona.

 

This story was originally published at Chamber Business News.