Online retailer Amazon is continuing to expand its grocery offer with the launch of a pilot online grocery service for fresh foods in the US. Amazon tested a number of grocery items on its US site Amazon.com in April last year before launching a dedicated grocery section offering more than 10,000 non-perishable bulk grocery items three months later. It has now followed this up with a move into fresh foods, and the low-key launch of an invite-only test service called AmazonFresh for customers in the Seattle suburb of Mercer Island. Customers must request an access code from Amazon to use the site. The service, which has its own standalone website https://fresh.amazon.com, and a fleet of 12 delivery vans, claims to offer "thousands of fresh, frozen, and shelf-stable grocery items all accessible in a fraction of the time it would take to go to the store and shop". Goods include farm-fresh produce, meat, milk, eggs and ice cream. It will also provide a "leading assortment of natural, organic, and speciality brands at competitive everyday prices and special offers on your favourite brands". Customers can also choose from three delivery options - a 'pre-dawn' delivery that will be left on customers' doorsteps in temperature-controlled totes, a next-day 'daytime' delivery, delivered in specific one-hour time slots, or a same-day option to collect an order from a local pick-up point. Although Amazon would not say whether the service would be expanded across the US and into other countries, the site asks customers to type in their postcode so they can be notified when the service becomes available in their area. Meanwhile, back in the UK, Wilkinson has added groceries to its online offer. The general merchandise retailer tested 600 ambient and fresh brands in 20 stores last year and announced plans to roll out the offer to a further 117 stores earlier this year. Customers can now purchase more than 650 grocery products from its website www.wilkinsonplus.com in categories including crisps, stock cupboard items, drinks and sweets. All the products are branded and include Cadbury, Walkers, Pepsi and Batchelors.