Amazon checks out grocery sales

Amazon Grocery will stock only non-perishable items, like cereals and canned goods

Amazon has expanded its product range in the US to include groceries and food. 

Amazon Grocery will stock only non-perishable items, like cereals and canned goods, and claims to offer 10,000 items. The service is currently in beta. 

In a statement on the site, the web retailer promised "an unparalleled combination of selection and value, no matter what type of product you seek".

The company emphasised its ability to stock many more items than a bricks and mortar retailer.

"When we carry a brand, we'll try to carry every flavour available: not just the most popular flavours of Jell-O, but all flavours from apricot to wild strawberry and the 70 flavours in-between," it said.

Online grocery sales famously forced dotcom high-flyer Webvan out of business in 2001.

Webvan attempted to deliver meat, fish, prepared food and other items in a 30-minute window set by online customers, which required a huge investment in distribution centres in large metropolitan areas. 

Amazon started selling books in 1995 and has since expanded its range to include many more items including CDs, DVDs, clothes and electronics.