Grocery game changing as Amazon set to acquire Whole Foods - Story | KMSP
- by Alan Olson
- in Markets
- — Aug 27, 2017
"By working together with Amazon and integrating in several key areas, we can lower prices and double down on that mission and reach more people with Whole Foods Market's high-quality, natural and organic food".
"We're determined to make healthy and organic food affordable for everyone", Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer, said in a press release.
Following "certain technical integration work", Amazon Prime will become Whole Foods' customer rewards program, supplying members with special savings and other in-store benefits.
Prices at Whole Foods Market, including the on campus location at 2201 I St., will drop Monday when the health focused supermarket officially merges with online retailer Amazon.
Beyond that, some Whole Foods stores will get Amazon Lockers, where customers can receive online orders and make returns. With its Whole Foods acquisition, it looks like Amazon is about to enjoy a flood of new Prime members.
From a business point of view, the merger between Amazon and Whole Foodsmeans that shoppers will be more likely to enter Whole Foods stores, as they check their Amazon lockers, while Amazon has said it will use the 460 Whole Foods stores as distribution centers for delivering goods.
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Norm Armstrong, an antitrust lawyer at King & Spalding LLP in Washington, told Bloomberg that the FTC approved the deal because Amazon and Whole Foods are not close competitors.
The e-commerce giant on Thursday said it will cut prices on a range of Whole Foods products, from avocados to almond butter, starting Monday.
The company plans to begin selling Whole Foods' private-label brands through its website, was well as its AmazonFresh, Prime Pantry and Prime Now programs, beginning Monday. "If the shareholders don't see WalMart doing something they get nervous and say maybe we should sell our stock and do something else". According to Fortune, this move will involve Amazon drawing in Whole Foods into its digital engine. The move sends a clear message to the USA grocery industry-Amazon is ready to begin its foray into the market in much the same fashion.
The decision to lower prices at Whole Foods strikes at one of the significant public perception problems that has dogged the grocery chain for years.
A year ago, Whole Foods opened its first lower-priced concept with a smaller store footprint called 365 by Whole Foods, to help the company's "price image".
This communication contains forward-looking statements. Amazon assumes no obligation to update the information in this communication, except as otherwise required by law.
