Amazon unveils latest move to keep customers from shopping elsewhere
Published in Business News
At a Whole Foods store just outside of Philadelphia, Amazon built a small warehouse housing Goldfish crackers, Tide Pods and other items you wouldn't find in an organic grocery store.
Amazon, which acquired Whole Foods in 2017, said the concept is a new experiment from the company to supplement the granola shopping experience of a Whole Foods with name-brand items found in other grocery stores.
But cases of Coca-Cola and boxes of Cheez-It crackers won't share the shelves with their organic-branded counterparts.
Instead, the 10,000-square-foot warehouse Amazon constructed in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, within the Whole Foods' back-of-house area acts as a micro fulfillment center. Shoppers will find QR codes throughout the store that take them to a custom digital storefront where they can order items not usually stocked in a Whole Foods, then pick them up in the store.
Jason Buechel, vice president of Amazon Worldwide Grocery Stores and CEO of Whole Foods, said in a news release Wednesday that the move is to keep customers from shopping elsewhere after hitting up Whole Foods.
At Whole Foods Market, we've always taken pride in offering a wide selection of natural and organic products, but we understand our customers appreciate the convenience of one-stop shopping," he said.
Amazon has been trying to broaden its reach in the grocery industry and hack at the market share dominated by companies like Walmart. The company's other ventures into physical stores include its Amazon Fresh grocery stores and Amazon Go convenience stores.
Amazon has also broken into the grocery delivery game, a business that CEO Andy Jassy recently said is growing fast.
Speaking during an earnings call with analysts last week, Jassy said over the past year, Amazon's grocery business, not counting Whole Foods or Fresh, has brought in over $100 billion in gross sales, "which would make us a top three grocery in the U.S."
Jassy also said Whole Foods is expanding over the next few years and recently launched a smaller version of the store for urban settings.
"We have three that we've launched that are off to very good starts that you should expect to see more of as well, Jassy said.
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