The Seattle-based Internet retailer Amazon.com has opened an online food store, its 34th store under the Amazon umbrella, with an assortment of around 14,000 non-perishable food and household items ranging from popcorn to green tea.

Amazon told a Seattle daily that more than 200,000 customers visited the grocery store site during a two-month test launch. “The store was created because our customers requested it,” Amazon spokeswoman Tracy Ogden told the SeattlePI. But initial feedback indicates that Amazon prices at its food store were either the same price or more expensive than at grocery stores in Seattle. Ogden refused to comment on how Amazon would compete against traditional supermarkets such as Albertsons and Safeway, which also offer online shopping.
Online food sales in the US are estimated to generate $10 billion and market observers say Amazon has a chance against major groceries chains because it has a strong brand and can leverage its shipping system to integrate groceries with books, DVDs and CDs.