Amazon Online Grocery Sales Surge with Whole Foods Acquisition, says Packaged Facts

ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In the first week after its acquisition by Amazon, Whole Foods' branded product web sales reached $500,000, after Amazon placed about 2,000 items from Whole Foods' 365 Everyday Value brand on its site.

On June 16, 2017 Amazon rocked the grocery world by announcing plans to acquire Whole Foods Market in an all-cash transaction valued at $13.7 billion. The acquisition, the largest in Amazon's history, closed in August 2017.

Following the acquisition, Amazon immediately implemented high-profile changes, including:

• Lowering prices on certain produce and refrigerated fresh food staples by 10% to 43%
  
  
• Tying in Whole Foods to the Amazon Prime rewards program, including Amazon Visa cards and Amazon ACH debit rewards
  
  
• Adding hundreds of Whole Foods items through a new Whole Foods category to Amazon Fresh
  
  
• Merchandising Echo + Echo Dot in Whole Foods stores, providing physical touch-points for all things Amazon

Whole Foods' and Amazon's shares rose 30% and 2%, respectively, following the unexpected acquisition. Rival grocery retailers saw their shares plummet following the move, with Kroger lowering by 15%, Supervalu 14%, Sprout 13%, Target 8%, Costco 7%, Walmart 7%, and Ahold by 5%.

Amazon + Whole Foods as Grocer

Amazon's Whole Foods acquisition marks a tipping point in an industry shift already underway. Packaged Facts' new report on natural channel grocery shopping covers these three key grocery retail trends:

Although Amazon's grocery penetration is minor compared to food retail giants such as Walmart and Kroger, the e-commerce giant has seemingly overnight topped the brick-and-mortar natural and organic foods channel in the U.S., covered in Packaged Facts' new report, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Natural Channel Grocery Shopping: The Future of Food Retailing.

For further coverage of Amazon's consumer usage and engagement trends and related consumer usage and engagement strategies, visit Packaged Facts' Amazon Strategies and the Amazon Shopper.

About Packaged Facts 

Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer market topics, including consumer demographics and shopper insights, consumer financial products and services, consumer goods and retailing, consumer packaged goods, and pet products and services.  Packaged Facts also offers a full range of custom research services.

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Daniel Granderson
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dgranderson@marketresearch.com

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SOURCE Packaged Facts