(Corrects first paragraph to say Brazil is a priority investment market, not the highest priority investment market; company statement in paragraph 7)
SAO PAULO, March 3 (Reuters) - Amazon launched its Amazon Now service in Brazil on Tuesday, pledging to deliver essentials and groceriesin 15 minutes, with its country head calling the Latin American country one of the firm's top priorities for new investments.
The service will launch in Sao Paulo on Tuesday, expanding gradually to seven other cities by March 9, Amazon Brasil's shopping experience director Fernanda Grumachtold a press conference, adding that there are plans for a broad expansion later.
Brazil's e-commerce segment has seen growing competition in recent years between players like Amazon, Uruguay-based MercadoLibre and Singapore firm Sea's Shopee.
Amazon Now, which had been launched in Mexico last year and is available in the United States, will offer in Brazil free delivery to members of Amazon's Prime loyalty program, while other customers will pay a 5.49 reais ($1.04) fee, the firm said. There will be also no service fee for an undetermined time, it added.
Amazon has been signaling a more aggressive approach in Brazil, implementing new promotions since last year, including by cutting logistics fees for people and companies selling on its platform.
"Brazil has become a priority among the countries in which Amazon invests in the world," country head Juliana Sztrajtman told journalists.
Amazon's press office later told Reuters that Brazil is among the company's priorities but that it does not rank investments by country.
Amazon, which will partner with delivery app Rappi in its new service in Brazil, entered Latin American's largest economy in the early 2010s, and said it has invested 55 billion reais locally since then.
"Every portfolio expansion ends up attracting new sellers," Sztrajtman told Reuters.
"Amazon Now is a service that brings in more customers and traffic," she added.
Asked if Amazon is comfortable with its recent promotional actions, the country head said the company's focus is on long-term. "Many things started happening last year with greater intensity, and we will continue at this pace."
($1 = 5.2648 reais)
(Reporting by Andre Romani; Editing by Sarah Morland and Brendan O'Boyle)
