US AMazon Fresh bag

Five months after debuting its grocery delivery service in Seattle, Amazon has announced that it is rolling out AmazonFresh to San Francisco from December. The Prime Fresh service, which offers fresh grocery delivery and local products, is available to a limited number of customers on a 30-day trial basis, after which the company will charge US$299 for a year’s subscription, the company said.

The service includes free delivery for orders worth over US$35 and the company guarantees that orders placed before 10am will be delivered the same evening. It caters primarily to grocery shoppers, but the company said consumers can select from more than 500,000 items, including books, toys and small electronics. These higher margin items could make the service more viable than traditional grocery delivery.

Amazon Fresh was launched five years ago in Seattle and rolled out to Los Angeles earlier this year.