Amazon US stops accepting new online grocery customers amid surging demand

Amazon will begin to put new grocery delivery customers on a wait list and curtail shopping hours at some Whole Foods stores to prioritize orders from existing customers buying food online during the coronavirus outbreak, the company said on Sunday.

Many shoppers recently seeking to purchase groceries from the Seattle-based ​e-commerce company found they could not place orders due to a lack of available delivery slots. Amazon said it would have to relegate all new online grocery customers to a wait list starting Monday while working on adding capacity each week.

In recent weeks, it increased the number of Whole Foods stores offering grocery pickup ​to more than 150 locations, up from 80 previously.