A Seattle based e-commerce giant Amazon, has now set its sight on the French grocery market as a part of its global expansion plan in food retailing.
Last year, Amazon had purchased Whole Foods in the United States, igniting speculations that the European food and supermarket sector could be its next target.
General manager of Amazon’s French division was quoted, “(Food) is a strong development axis for Amazon since the launch of our Amazon Fresh offer in the U.S. in September 2016.” He also added that “We would very much like to launch this service in France, but everything in its own time. A launch represents an investment.”
Since 2016, Amazon has been successfully running its Amazon Prime Now express delivery service in Paris. Owing to this venture, the e-commerce company is making its presence felt by growing slowly and steadily in the food retailing market.
In the previous month, Amazon had declared that it would generate 2,000 job opportunities in the French market. Owing to this declaration, the company has now settled the ongoing dispute with the French tax authorities that was charging nearly 200 million euros from the company.
After Amazon’s announcement, the French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said,“ Amazon is welcomed in France because my absolute priority is to create jobs, and Amazon represents thousands of jobs.”
Le Maire also added that“partnerships are under discussions between Amazon and some French groups, notably in the food products sector” and that the government would make certain that there is a fair competition.
