6/26

Amazon is starting to offer its own line of private label groceries.  According to CNET:

The e-commerce giant has quietly launched its first-ever private-label foods on its website, now selling Happy Belly coffee and Mama Bear baby food. A company spokesperson confirmed that both products are made by Amazon and went on sale in the past few days. The products are only available to Amazon Prime members in the US.

Certainly these are just baby steps into the huge private label marketplace, but it signals strategic intention.

The move comes at the same time that Walmart is doubling down on a program directly competitive with Amazon Prime.  According to the company:

A free 30-day trial of ShippingPass, which gives you unlimited two-day shipping. If you already have ShippingPass, there’s also good news -- we’re going to give you an extra month for free, so look out for an email. ShippingPass is about half the price of similar programs out there at just $49 a year

Amazon's "similar program" is priced at $99 per year.  In the spirit of the Fourth of July holiday, Walmart is inviting customers to declare independence from "others". Worth remembering the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776.  The War of Independence ended in 1783.  In 1812 the Brits occupied Washington DC and set fire to the White House.

And don't neglect Kroger's Checklist program.  If Amazon is King George, maybe Walmart is Benjamin Franklin and Kroger is Sam Adams.

We're still in the early years of the revolution.