Amazon to launch food and drinks sales in Mexico

Amazon

said that it will begin selling food and drinks online in Mexico , including snacks, sweets, and wines, a move that could intensify its competition with Walmart Mexico to claim shoppers in an emergent online market.

Online shopping

represents only a fraction of the total retail sales in Mexico but has grown swiftly, setting Amazon and its rivals in a race to increase investments in logistics, technology, and product offerings.

Amazon

views food and drinks sales as key to growth, eyeing regular purchases to stock pantries as a way to generate other types of sales, but has yet to dominate this category.

The new items on its Mexican website , which officially launched in 2015, span coffees and teas as well as liquors, wines, and beers, the company said. They also range from cooking ingredients to non-perishable snacks and sweets.

“We’re committed to offering our clients as many products as we can,” Fernando Ramírez, Amazon Mexico’s senior product manager , said in a statement.

In the United States , Amazon has tackled online grocery sales through its $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods Market last year. It now offers two-hour delivery and lets shoppers pick up Amazon products from lockers at Whole Foods stores.

Meanwhile, Walmart is aiming at delivering groceries to more than 40% of US households by the end of the year and is partnering with companies like Uber .

Amazon becomes Mexico's top online retailer

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