Hasta La Creative!

The Thanksgiving turkey is browning, your guests are on route, and you suddenly realize you forgot whipped cream for the homemade pumpkin pie cooling by the window. Amazon stands ready to bail you out.

The world’s biggest online retailer is offering quick grocery delivery from Whole Foods stores in Chicago and other cities until 2 p.m. on Thursday, an experiment in applying last-minute convenience to holiday meal prep that has already given it an edge with holiday gift shoppers. Amazon delivered its final Christmas orderwhich included a remote control toy carat 11:58 p.m. on Dec. 24 last year.

Amazon’s bet on Thanksgiving is the latest example of how retailers, startups and venture capitalists are trying anything and everything to eke out an advantage as grocery sales move online. Walmart Inc. is investing in home delivery with Deliv and other partners to maintain its position as the country’s biggest grocer and take advantage of its vast store presence. Kroger Co. in May announced an investment in U.K. online grocer Ocado Group Plc. Venture capitalists are eagerly writing checks for Instacart Inc. and Deliv, which are both seeing big upticks from grocers beyond Walmart. Investors are even betting that a new generation of smart microwaves and toaster ovens will one day automate larder replenishment.

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