Amazon Shutters London Delivery Service

After two years on the market, Amazon will shut down its restaurant delivery service in London, according to the Evening Standard. The company told customers about the change in an email, saying the service would be discontinued after Dec. 3.

Amazon Restaurants UK, which faced competition from Deliveroo and Uber Eats, was available as part of the company’s same-day delivery service called Prime Now, according to reports. It started small in selected areas, and eventually grew to cover most of the city.

“We are closing Amazon Restaurants U.K.,” an Amazon spokesperson told the Standard. “We would like to thank all of our customers and merchants and delivery partners for their support.”

Amazon began its restaurant service in Seattle in 2015, with other major cities following. It is currently available in Baltimore, Tampa, San Jose and Chicago, among others.

Customers can order food from various restaurants by cuisine or by establishment, according to Amazon. They can track deliveries in real time and even order from the Amazon mobile shopping app. The company said it adds new restaurants daily.

The U.K. version, which started in September of 2016, offered no markups on menu items or hidden fees. Delivery was free and the minimum order was £15.00. Eventually, Amazon added a £1.99 flat charge per order. Amazon promised delivery within an hour in London. The service included Michelin-rated restaurants such as Indian Benares, as well as Planet Hollywood and Strada.

The Evening Standard quoted an industry insider who said the market for restaurants and food might have been more nuanced than Amazon realized.

“It is a highly competitive market, and perhaps they needed to be more than a logistics company trying to be a food company,” the insider said. “There’s an emotional component with food that maybe they didn’t understand.”