DUBAI: Amazon hopes its third annual Prime Day on Tuesday could be the ideal launching pad for something the giant online retailer is not exactly known for even for its most loyal customers: groceries.
Seattle-based Amazon has declared July 11 to be Prime Day but 30 US cities are already enjoying marked down prices on grocery items like Halo Top ice cream, La Croix sparkling water since July 8, days ahead of the online retailer’s third attempt at such a large-scale event.
Amazon is hopeful the buzz generated by its $13.4 billion (SR50.25 billion) acquisition of upscale grocery chain Whole Foods would encourage people to sign up to AmazonFresh, its take on a grocery delivery and pick-up service available only for Prime members in select cities across the US.
Purchasing Whole Foods also represented a major leap in the company’s long-running battle with Walmart, the largest grocery retailer in the US, as the deal gave them an instant brick-and-mortar network across the country.
Wal-Mart controls the biggest share of the US food and grocery market, with about 14.5 percent of all sales, according to estimates and analysis from GlobalData Retail.
Whole Foods meanwhile has a 1.2 percent share on all US food and grocery sales and Amazon has about a 0.2 percent share of that $800 billion market.
Amazon’s push into grocery is further bolstered its Prime Day plans to sell various food and household items for as much as 35 percent off with onsite coupons in Prime Pantry, an “everyday essentials” section that features many products from one of Amazon’s own food brands, Wickedly Prime.
Prime members can also shop exclusive deals – many for food and beverage items – available for free, two-hour delivery, ahead of the highly anticipated, 30-hour Prime Day.
The first Prime Day was held on July 15, 2015 to celebrate Amazon’s 20th anniversary, and its success at boosting sales and bringing in new Prime members prompted the company to do it again on July 12 last year.
Amazon has been experimenting with technology to help grow its grocery business and in December 2016 Amazon Go, which grab-and-go stores without cashiers and checkout lines.
Customers can use a mobile app to enter an Amazon Go store and items they want to buy are automatically added to their virtual cart as they grab them off the shelf. Their Amazon accounts are then charged when they are finished shopping and leave the shop.
Amazon said its beta store located in Seattle was just currently open to employees.
Amazon hopes third US Prime Day sale to help it break into grocery business
Amazon hopes third US Prime Day sale to help it break into grocery business
Closing Bell: Saudi main index slips to close at 11,228
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slipped on Sunday, lost 23.17 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 11,228.64.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR2.99 billion ($797 million), as 170 of the stocks advanced and 82 retreated.
On the other hand, the Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu gained 449.38 points, or 1.90 percent, to close at 24,093.12. This comes as 43 of the stocks advanced while 27 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index lost 6.07 points, or 0.40 percent, to close at 1,511.36.
The best-performing stock of the day was Obeikan Glass Co., whose share price surged 7.54 percent to SR27.66.
Other top performers included Alamar Foods Co., whose share price rose 6.80 percent to SR47.10, as well as Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co., whose share price climbed 6.79 percent to SR5.66.
Saudi Investment Bank recorded the steepest drop, falling 3.21 percent to SR13.56.
Jahez International Co. for Information System Technology also saw its share price fall 3.15 percent to SR13.55.
Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co. declined 2.78 percent to SR7.34.
On the announcements front, Tanmiah Food Co. reported its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. According to a Tadawul statement, the company recorded a net loss of SR18.8 million, compared with a net profit of SR95.8 million a year earlier.
The net loss was mainly due to ongoing market challenges that resulted in continued pricing pressures in fresh poultry, inflationary cost pressures, higher financing expenses, and depreciation and ramp-up costs from new facilities, partially offset by increased production volumes and cost-optimization initiatives.
Tanmiah Food Co. ended the session at SR58.20, up 3.72 percent.
United International Holding Co., also known as Tas’heel, announced its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. A bourse filing showed the company recorded a net profit of SR273.64 million in 2025, up 23.05 percent from 2024, primarily driven by a 23.4 percent rise in revenues. The revenue growth helped lift gross profit by 23.7 percent.
Tas’heel ended the session at SR146.80, down 0.28 percent.
