Amazon.com to develop groceries under own private label Elements: report
E-commerce giant moves to compete with grocers, Walmart on food, cleaning products
You may soon be able to buy an Amazon.com private-label brand of soup, cereal and baby products as the e-commerce giant moves into the grocery sector.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Amazon is expanding its own Elements brand to an array of products that might otherwise come from a competitor such as Walmart or a grocery store such as Costco or Loblaw's.
Earlier this month, Amazon sought trademark protection for Elements brand coffee, soup, pasta, water, vitamins, dog food and household items like razors and cleaning products.
There are already Elements brand baby wipes available to its Prime customers who pay $99 a year for unlimited shipping.
The WSJ reports Amazon has approached private-label food manufacturers, including TreeHouse Foods Inc. of Oak Brook, Ill., to make the products. TreeHouse makes private label brands for many U.S. retailers.
Private labels, used by Costco, Loblaw and other retailers, allow vendors to control product quality pricing and packaging and over the longer term, can help build customer loyalty.
Amazon, which until now has sold mainly brand name products, has not confirmed the plans to develop its private label business.
But the company has a reputation for innovation, expanding recently into travel services as well as pressuring competitors over shipping costs.