Amazon has begun shipping Whole Foods products from 26 of its Amazon Fresh fulfillment centers, further blurring the lines between its two grocery businesses in a new set of experiments. But it's not stopping there…
The company is also planning to build a micro fulfillment center at a Pennsylvania Whole Foods Market and stock it with Amazon Fresh household goods and groceries. Customers would place orders on their phones while they shop at Whole Foods, and then pick up the items at checkout.
And as you might recall, a few weeks ago, I reported that Amazon built an experimental “Amazon Grocery” store inside a Chicago Whole Foods that offers brands and grocery items that Whole Foods normally wouldn't carry. The goal of the store is to remove the need for Whole Foods customers to have to shop elsewhere.
As for its online plans, Amazon aims to pull together various fulfillment networks for its Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh stores into a common ordering and delivery platform, giving its grocery business greater scale with online customers.
The Wall Street Journal wrote, “The company’s goal is to create one-stop shopping for products ranging from organic produce to Tide detergent and Cheez-It crackers and eliminate the need for shoppers to visit multiple stores.”
I wrote a few weeks ago, “Just sell soda in Whole Foods and get it over with already!” — and it seems like Amazon is practically here. At what point will they stop making customers place orders for Vanilla Coke and Pepperidge Farm Cookies on their phones and simply stock the items in-store for customers to add to their shopping carts?
Amazon could simply designate a section of Whole Foods stores as “Amazon Fresh Favorites” and get the merger over with.
Would it dilute the Whole Foods brand to sell low-quality non-organic foods?
Sure, maybe a little. However it would make life more convenient for Whole Foods shoppers who want to pick up a few junk food staples without having to stop at a competing grocery store on their way home.
It's not like Whole Foods would be discontinuing their mission of providing high-quality natural and organic foods to customers altogether. There'd still be $8 apples and boxed camel milk for sale. There would just also likely be some Lay's BBQ Chips and Sunny Delight in a section of the store too.
Personally, I wouldn't care one way or another, but I also have no brand relationship with Whole Foods other than occasionally visiting the Asheville NC location to have a coffee and cookie with my mom. I'm more of a Trader Joe's guy myself.