Amazon Fresh review: Everything you need to know about Amazon Fresh

Find out everything you need to know about Amazon's online grocery store, Amazon Fresh. From how it works to delivery fees, from ordering online to our Amazon Fresh review. 

We're addicted to Amazon as it is, but now it should be easier to get everything you need in one go with online grocery store,  Amazon Fresh. Amazon can be a lifesaver when you need things quickly (and at short notice too), especially if you're an Amazon Prime customer.

Amazon Fresh is completely free for Prime members, with a minimum order spend of just £15. Delivery is currently £3.99 or free if you spend £40. There are around 130,000 products available on Amazon Fresh, which is a far wider range than most supermarkets. Research shows that an Amazon Fresh weekly shop costs an average of £58.93, making it cheaper than Asda.

So how is it? We put Amazon Fresh to the test by ordering a big family shop with a real mix of fresh and seasonal ingredients as well as weekly staples like bread, milk, and fruit. We also threw in some toilet rolls and nappies to see how these everyday essentials impacted the total basket price. "It's a great start for Amazon Fresh for your standard, typical basics, but a big selling point is their access to local markets and Artisan products," says Deputy Food Editor, Sophie Austin-Smith.

What is Amazon Fresh and how does Amazon Fresh work?

Amazon Fresh is a food delivery service - where you are able to order fresh produce, and everyday groceries as well as toiletries, hygiene products, and alcohol.

Available exclusively to Prime members, it’s essentially a standard online grocery shopping service. It is only available to certain regions, so best to check your postcode before signing up. There are currently six Amazon Fresh stores in the UK, the majority of which are in London.

Like most online grocery stores, it is easy to navigate sectioned into categories such as dairy, cheese, and eggs, fresh vegetables, salad and herbs, and meat and seafood.

Amazon Fresh includes well-known brand names from McCain, Birds Eye, Haagen-Daz, Pampers, Finish, Nurofen, and many many more. You can also buy a range of Morrison products and organic produce on Amazon Fresh too.

Current bestsellers on Amazon Fresh include:

• Pip & Nut crunchy peanut butter 1kg - £5.32
• Persil Colour 53 washes - £5.73
• Heinz Baked Beanz 6 tins - £4.75
• Finish All-in-One Max dishwasher tablets 90 tablets - £9.16
• Pedigree Schmackos mega pack dog treats 110 strips - £4.50
• Heinz Tomato Ketchup 910g - £2.80
• Whiskas 1+ Complete dry cat food 7kg - £12.57
• Garofalo Penne 500g - £1.19

Amazon also has its own range of products too which includes products such as fresh fruit, veg, tinned foods such as kidney beans and sauces as well as baked goods too like hot cross buns and pitta bread.

Is Amazon Fresh expensive?

According to Retail Week, it is estimated that when Amazon Fresh service first launched, product prices were 17% lower than Tesco, 21% lower than Sainsbury's, and 31% cheaper than Ocado, making it a less expensive online grocery option.

Prime members get access to Amazon Fresh for free, but if you're looking to sign up to Amazon Fresh, you'll need to sign up for a Prime account. You can take part in a 30-day free trial but after that Prime costs £7.99 per month. An annual subscription costs £79 per year, which works out at £6.58 per month.

Delivery costs £3.99, unless you spend over £40, you can get delivery for free.

Amazon Fresh also has a range of seasonal deals. At the time of writing, Amazon Fresh is offering up to 35% off products, any 3 for £5 on freezer fillers as well as 20% off cereal favourites like Kellogg's Coco Pops and Frosties.

Amazon Fresh review

Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Amazon Fresh order

"It was simple to fill your online shopping basket just by clicking on the 'add to basket' icon but more complicated to remove items. Other online retailers have + and - buttons, but to remove from Amazon Fresh, you have to go back into your basket and it's more of a faff," says Deputy Food Editor, Sophie Austin-Smith.

We also liked that Amazon Fresh has a 'Past Purchases' page, which keeps a record of your previous buys if you wanted to order them again.

"There is a lot to choose from and we were excited to pop in a few treats, as one of Amazon Fresh's main selling points is its range of Artisan lines. Think Daylesford sausages and Primose Bakery biscuits. They went straight into our basket, unplanned. This could get expensive. But the range goes quickly from everyday essentials from Morrisons to more expensive Borough Market-style producers, with not a lot in between."

Sophie commented on how she was rather confused by Amazon Fresh showing unavailable items; "Confusingly, it also shows unavailable items, which is frustrating - but it also lets you know that you can choose a new delivery time for when they are next available. If you're not careful, you could end up with wholesale quantities at your door or end up scratching your head as to how the bill racked up so quickly, so many sure you double-check quantities before checking out."

For same-day delivery, you need to order before 1 pm and you'll get your shopping after 5 pm.

We ordered at 5 pm and managed to book a one-hour slot from 8 am the next morning. This is an excellent turnaround on last-minute orders.

Amazon Fresh delivery

"At 7.45 am, we got an email saying our shop was on the way and it arrived at 8.02 am, just 2 mins into our 1 hour slot. It arrived in a small non-refrigerated van, with all the fresh food packed within boxes with ice packs and two men who came in to help unpack," Sophie adds.

Everything comes in colour-coded paper bags; blue for fridge stuff and grey for the cupboard. Nothing was overly packaged, which was great. Everything was in paper bags which is much easier to recycle - you can also give bags back to the Amazon Fresh driver if preferred. You don't get a paper receipt either, but an email told us there were no substitutions.

"Once the delivery guys had left, we spread the shopping out on the table. It was a good family shop. But where were the Daylesford sausages and bacon or the Primrose Bakery biscuits? Where was the Parmesan? They just hadn't shown up and when we went back to check our email, they were never on the list. It was confusing and disappointing, as they had gone into our basket at the start," says Sophie.

All the products were of good quality; particularly the fruit and veg. All products that needed to be kept cool, were still cool on arrival, and no products were harmed or spoiled.

Would we use Amazon Fresh again?

"Yes and no; on one hand, it's really tempting to give it another go, as we already have Amazon Prime and there are some interesting items available. Plus, the amazingly quick turnaround and the option of same-day delivery could be a real lifesaver in the future," comments Deputy Food Editor, Sophie Austin-Smith.

"At the same time, the missing items with no warning were annoying to say the least. If they had been essential for one of our planned recipes, it would have upset our meal plan for the week. If you have to nip out to get extra items, it defeats the point of online shopping in the first place."

What do others say about Amazon Fresh?

According to Trustpilot, Amazon Fresh has been rated a bad experience amongst reviewers. However, a few customers have given the online grocery store 5 stars; "I tend to stick with Morrisons via Amazon but the £20 off offer they have now for coop and fresh new customers were worth a shot," said Amazon Fresh customer, Josie.

"Never had an issue with Morrisons or Co-op deliveries so gave it a try. I read these reviews while waiting on a driver collecting expecting the worse but surprisingly had no issue again. Turned up on time, pleasant driver and all items ordered. I ordered at 7 pm and arrived at 10.15 pm pretty decent service."

Amazon Fresh shopper Karen also gave the service 5 stars and commented; "I was panicking after seeing these reviews but cannot fault it. Delivery was between 10 am and 12 pm and the driver arrived at 10.05. Everything I ordered was there and packaged extremely well with ice packs between the fridge items also."

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