Amazon Restaurants Set to Launch in London
Next up on Jeff Bezos’ list: Amazon Restaurants goes international. According to Business Insider, Amazon is preparing to launch its meal delivery service in London. London is set to be the first international location where Amazon Restaurants is available – the convenient meal delivery service is already catching on in the US, with options in a dozen American cities including Seattle, of course, along with New York, Dallas, San Francisco, Chicago, LA, San Diego, Portland, Austin, Atlanta, Miami and Baltimore.
How Does Amazon Restaurants Work?
Amazon Restaurants operates by offering their services through local restaurants in each city and taking a portion of the service fee. However, according to several studies, the platform will face serious competition in Europe due to a variety of other similar delivery services already seeing great success. Bezos will reportedly launch Amazon Restaurants in London as a trial, then decide whether they will expand this service in Europe or stick to growing its dominance in the United States. With the growing success of Amazon’s meal delivery service, restaurant owners along with merchants will need to make a decision about whether or not they’d like to share the wealth with Amazon.
Mobile meal delivery is growing rapidly. This service is still in its early stages, but studies show that by 2020, it is likely to be a $38 billion industry. Apps and services like GrubHub and Seamless have pioneered the industry in the US, and even more, have expanded much further in Europe.
Overall, the successful launch of Amazon Restaurants in the US means that restaurant owners will need to either beat Bezos or join him – and the first option isn’t very likely. As this service grows, restaurant owners would be wise to reap the benefits of Amazon’s excellent reputation and wide customer base by becoming a partner with Bezos in his latest venture.