Why would someone with prime use prime pantry if it was free shipping anyway?
Once that product moved to normal Amazon, it transitioned to the standard jobbers and hucksters... you’d buy a can of coffee whose best by date was 30 days out.
I think this segment is really being replaced by Whole Foods, it is somewhat constrained by the more limited selection of Whole Foods vs normal grocery.
Also, I think Amazon is getting a run for its money with Target and to a lesser extent Walmart. The target drive-up service in particular is best in class. Every mom is hooked to it, and you see people waiting for drive up orders ordering more in the car.
The overall point is that both companies have to some extent enveloped every US population center and have figured out how to use their real estate in a competitive way.
I called out Target because they seem to have gone from 0-60 quickly in my region. Walmart seems to roll out features slower, but is more comprehensive in what they offer.
I used it because there was stuff on there that was (and is) significantly cheaper via Pantry than straight Prime.
And as long as you ordered $35+ worth of stuff from Pantry, shipping was free without that additional Pantry subscription.
Now that Pantry is gone (although they decimated the list of available products on Pantry in the months before shutting it down completely), most of the stuff I used to buy from Pantry is at least 50% more expensive with Prime.
I'm going to be using Amazon for stuff like that a lot less now, because they're no longer competitive with my local grocery store.
And don't even get me started with Amazon Fresh either. Their selection really sucks too, and while their prices are roughly competitive with the local grocery store, the lack of selection just kills it for me.
I'd also point out that FreshDirect[0] is much better than Amazon Fresh in terms of selection as well.