Customers of Amazon from across the country will soon be able to take advantage of a new service being rolled out by the US e-commerce giant which will allow for groceries to be ordered via safe shopping online and get delivered in a matter of hours.

The Grocer reports that the Ultra Fresh delivery option will be made available as an addition to the perks which are already included with an Amazon Prime subscription. As such, there will be a premium to pay on top of this basic package, although it seems likely that the standard-speed Fresh delivery will therefore become free to all subscribers.

In order to cope with the spike in demand for same-day grocery deliveries that is expected to coincide with this rollout, Amazon will apparently be turning a handful of its existing distribution centres into grocery-focused facilities from which it will be possible for employees to quickly pick, pack and dispatch the orders placed by customers.

Amazon has already extended its reach into the online grocery market, with a deal struck between it and supermarket chain Morrisons allowing it to take advantage of an existing firm’s supply infrastructure rather than forcing it to start from scratch and source all of its own products.

Ultra Fresh was originally launched in America late last autumn, and it is slowly being introduced to more places, so it is likely that the rollout in the UK will be similarly staggered rather than it becoming available for every customer in one fell swoop.

The rise in online grocery orders spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic has clearly helped to show Amazon and a number of other retailers that there is significant value in being able to get goods direct to customers’ doorsteps.