The website, which is famous for selling books and DVDs has recently branched out into other areas, selling clothes, jewellery and vitamins. It is now preparing to emulate its grocery offer in America, where it sells more than 45,000 non-perishable items, according to a report in industry trade magazine Retail Week. This would pitch it against major players such as Tesco.com, Sainsburys.com and Ocado.com, which delivers Waitrose food. It is unclear how successful any grocery business would be if it did not offer meat, fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables. A launch date has yet to be decided but industry sources said it is likely to be this year, industry sources told the magazine. In America, Amazon has just started testing a perishable food offer, AmazonFresh, in the Seattle area and is asking customers to vote on whether the offer should be extended to more locations. Nielsen Online analyst Alex Burmaster believed that an Amazon food launch in the UK would be good for competition. "Potentially supermarkets should be nervous as the Amazon name is so well known and it is one of the original, old school online brands," he told the magazine. But Amazon's plans may also face a few obstacles. Burmaster added: "Its biggest challenge could be to change the customer mindset on a site renowned for selling books and DVDs. It is not a natural progression, but it has been adding to its portfolio over the past few years and becoming more of a one stop shop for customers." An Amazon spokesman said that he could not comment on future plans. "This is pure speculation, and we never comment on speculation," he said. ( www.telegraph.co.uk )
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