Amazon has a habit of buying up services and folding them into its Prime subscription benefits. Lovefilm, Audible, Whole Foods, the Washington Post and Twitch are some of the higher profile examples.
Given the company is becoming a major investor in the Deliveroo food delivery company, it isn’t out of the question your Friday night take-away could soon be delivered as part of your Amazon Prime membership.
Amazon is going to be the largest investor in the British-based company’s latest funding round. Overall, the company has raised $575m (around £450m) during its Series G funding round, but it’s unclear how much of that is made up by Amazon’s contribution.
The investment comes after Amazon shuttered its own Amazon Restaurants delivery service in London last December, amid competition from the likes of Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat.
Related: Amazon Echo tips and tricks
A Sky News report claims Amazon had twice attempted to buy Deliveroo outright, while Uber Eats had also reportedly been sniffing around the company.
“We’re impressed with Deliveroo’s approach, and their dedication to providing customers with an ever increasing selection of great restaurants along with convenient delivery options,” said Doug Gurr, Amazon UK Country manager in a press release. “Will and his team have built an innovative technology and service, and we’re excited to see what they do next.”
Obviously it’s too early to tell whether Amazon would seek to leverage its investment to bring Deliveroo into the Amazon Prime fold and, even if it wanted to, it’s far from the only stakeholder here. But it’s definitely food for thought… Eugh. That was terrible. Sorry everyone.
Anyway, those deliveries would sure to be yet another carrot dangled to those who’re wavering over continuing their Amazon Prime memberships. How would you feel? Are you worried about Amazon’s concentration of ownership across a number of platforms? Let us know @TrustedReviews on Twitter?
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
