Review: Amazon Prime Pantry

One of the things that I despise is grocery shopping. I hate it. When I run out of something I always forget to stop by the store and pick it up so I usually go a few days without. I’ve been trying to get all my grocery shopping done online for the past few years. I’ve got my toiletries down to a science. I order in bulk from Amazon (at a better price!) and I usually never run out. I don’t have to leave my house or remember to stop anywhere on my way home from the office. I haven’t been able to get much food items from Amazon since Amazon Fresh isn’t offered where I live. Amazon Prime Pantry aims to bridge that gap between their normal offerings and their grocery offerings.

What is it?

The idea behind Prime Pantry is that people want their groceries delivered, but they don’t need or want to buy in bulk. I don’t want a 5 lbs jar of Mayo delivered to my doorstep! Amazon Prime Pantry will let you order up to 45 lbs, or 4 cubic feet, worth of products and have them sent straight to your door. This service is offered only to Amazon Prime members. Amazon says you can order as little or as much as you’d like of that 45 lbs cap. Even though this service is exclusive to Prime members Amazon doesn’t offer their trademark 2-day delivery with Amazon Prime Pantry. Instead there is a $5.99 per order fee and the box is shipped via Ground service. Not all products on the site are part of Prime Pantry, in fact it has it’s own category when searching for products.

The Good

For the purposes of this test I decided to order items that I actually needed. I ordered some laundry detergent, vitamin water, and some cookies and candy for the office. I had no trouble finding my usual brands & flavors while searching Prime Pantry. Even though Amazon wants this service to be for non bulk orders it didn’t make sense to just buy one of each item. The prices for each of the items I ordered were the same or cheaper in most cases than what I would pay if I walked into my local grocer’s. In the case of the laundry detergent I ordered two bottles since Prime Pantry didn’t carry the size that I normally purchase. I ended up getting more detergent and for a much lower cost than if I bought in bulk.

The site keeps a running total of your box and let’s you know exactly how much space you’ve taken up. Even though the box was shipped via Ground it still arrived fairly quickly. The inside of the box was divided into two sections so that I could easily lift one section out and put the items away. When it comes time to reorder your items it looks like you’ll have to do this yourself. I couldn’t find an option to setup a subscription for a product like you can with other grocery items that Amazon carries. There was a button that would setup another order exactly as you previously ordered it. If you can setup your Prime Pantry orders just right that feature might be very handy! It’s apparent that Amazon really thought out the customer experience with Prime Pantry.

The Bad (or not so good)

At the time that I placed my order there weren’t many different product offerings in Prime Pantry. I was able to find my usual flavors and brands for this order, but if I wanted to order shampoo, or other toiletries I’d have to switch brands. Amazon says that they are going to be constantly expanding the selection of Prime Pantry and hopefully soon this won’t be an issue. I’d really like to see every grocery type product that Amazon sells be part of Prime Pantry if you’re using this service. It was a little frustrating to put a Prime Pantry item into my cart, then add a regular item and essentially end up with two separate orders.

Another aspect that I found to be frustrating was the 45 lbs box cap. Since you pay a $5.99 delivery fee you want to get the most bang for your buck. I found myself subconsciously searching for products to buy just so my box would be full. My order ended up being 28 lbs and only 74% full. I don’t want to feel that I need to buy more items just so I can get my groceries delivered with Amazon. Since the selection isn’t that wide it’s difficult for me to fill up a box.

Prime Pantry also takes some planning on your part. If I run out of shampoo now I can log onto Amazon’s normal site, and have a bottle delivered to my house the next day. With Prime Pantry you have to plan out your purchases since it could take a week to get delivered. You also can’t setup subscriptions that will just show up, so you have to remember to place your order every time. I know these are small gripes, but they can be a big issue if you forget to plan ahead.

Prime Pantry still doesn’t offer fresh food. You can’t purchase any produce through the program. Right now Amazon has six categories to choose from: Food & Snacks, Cooking, Beverages, Personal Care, Household Supplies and Pets. Since you can’t get all your groceries through Prime Pantry you’ll still have to make a few trips to the store every now and then.

 

 

Wrap-Up

If the products that you normally buy are part of Prime Pantry and you don’t mind waiting a few days for shipment then Prime Pantry might be right up your alley. For everyone else Prime Pantry might not be of any use. I still get all my toiletries from Amazon’s normal site and I haven’t placed another Prime Pantry order. Amazon does have a few products that they only sell as part of Prime Pantry (My favorite Vitamin Water is one of these…). For those I think I’ll fill up the box  with those products and try to cut Prime Pantry orders down to a few times per year. When I eventually run out of laundry detergent I plan on placing another Prime Pantry order, until then I’ll just use Amazon’s normal site.

 

If you’re interested in trying out Amazon Prime or Prime Pantry you can grab a free trial of Amazon Prime here or a trial of Prime for Students here (Same benefits as Prime but much cheaper, just requires a .edu email!)