Amazon’s Grocery Store Dreams Are Reshaping Whole Foods

Customers astatine a Pennsylvania Whole Foods tin bid Kraft Mac & Cheese while they shop. | Image: Amazon

Amazon built a portal to Kraft Mac & Cheese, Goldfish crackers, and Nestlé Drumsticks wrong 1 of its Whole Foods stores — and it plans to do nan aforesaid astatine others. In a blog station connected Wednesday, Amazon specifications a Whole Foods conception shop successful Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, wherever shoppers tin bid market items from Amazon utilizing QR codes scattered passim nan supermarket.

The Pennsylvania conception shop has a built-in “microfulfillment center” packed pinch products that you wouldn’t usually find wrong Whole Foods. When a customer places an bid from Amazon Fresh, autonomous “ShopBot” robots developed by a institution called Fulfil will statesman to retrieve nan products. Customers will past person a matter notification erstwhile their bid is fresh for pickup astatine nan Amazon pickup and returns antagonistic wrong nan store.

“As we stitchery customer feedback from this first location, we scheme to refine and grow this offering to further stores complete time,” Amazon says.

A study from The Wall Street Journal first highlighted nan Pennsylvania-based Whole Foods conception shop past year. This caller station from Amazon provides moreover much accusation astir nan format, which attempts to sneak much products into Whole Foods without tarnishing nan store’s estimation for trading earthy and integrated goods. Amazon besides launched a abstracted research successful Chicago that puts an Amazon Fresh shop correct next to a Whole Foods.

Amazon’s market business has only go much intertwined pinch Whole Foods complete nan past year. In January, Amazon appointed Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel arsenic nan VP of Amazon’s market business, and it plans to move Whole Foods’ firm workers into Amazon labor successful December.

Along pinch allowing shoppers to spot orders while wrong nan Plymouth Meeting Whole Foods, Amazon says section customers tin besides spot orders online, which they tin past prime up successful shop aliases person delivered. “We’re making market shopping much convenient for customers by thoughtfully blending our market offerings and leveraging caller fulfillment capabilities successful imaginative ways,” Buechel says.