With its $13.7 billion takeover of Whole Foods set to be complete by the end of this bank holiday weekend, Amazon has taken another small step towards total world domination. Clearly unfazed about its reputation for undercutting competitors, the retail powerhouse immediately announced plans to slash prices of some of Whole Foods’ organic best-sellers.
Jeff Wilke, chief executive of Amazon Worldwide Consumer, says Amazon’s goal is “to make healthy and organic food affordable for everyone." Right now, Whole Foods has only 9 UK Stores, of which 7 are in London, but as Amazon’s Prime membership alone is predicted to grow from 75 million to 200 million by 2021, the consumer-base for Whole Foods products will indeed skyrocket.
There are definitely grounds for optimism that this will help alleviate the sad millennial paradox of loving avocado toast but only being able to afford the toast – as lower prices will apply to grocery ‘staples’ (their word not mine) like organic avocados, baby kale and almond butter. There will also be a points program with Amazon Prime memberships as rewards, and in-store Amazon Lockers – so that customers can easily return or pick-up their online orders.
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Of course, it’s a great deal for Amazon too, as Whole Foods own-brand products can now be sold via its online stores – Amazon.com, AmazonFresh, Prime Pantry and Prime Now. It will also likely rake in more custom from the on-site lockers, if people combine their errands with their grocery shop.
The only real losers then, are Amazon’s competitors; UK supermarket shares have already slid down the FTSE 100 Index - Tesco fell by 2%, while Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer all lost 1%. Competitors selling branded packaged food on Amazon’s websites are also likely to be adversely affected by the arrival of Whole Foods products.
Above all though, this should stop the pricing-out of certain demographics from healthy and organic foods, end the association of these foods with upper and middle classes, and provide everyone with more choice. Amazon is also offering discounted Prime memberships for people on government assistance programs, whilst Whole Foods says it will open new stores, in turn creating jobs. Great. Kale smoothie, anyone?
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.