Whole Foods Is Just $10 Cheaper Two Years After Amazon Deal
Bloomberg
Jul 10, 2019
Amazon.com Inc.’s $13.7 billion purchase of
Whole Foods Market spawned endless speculation about how the
internet giant would change the upscale grocer. Two years later,
we’ve got an answer: Ten bucks.
That’s how much the cost of a basket of goods has gone down
for Prime members, according to Gordon Haskett Research
Advisors, which has tracked one store in Princeton, N.J., nine
separate times since the deal closed in August 2017. And those
price cuts have come primarily in two categories -- produce and
dairy -- while other items have largely stayed the same or, in
the case of bread and snacks, even increased.
“Many of the aggressive price actions from Whole Foods have
been more bark than bite,” Gordon Haskett analyst Chuck Grom
said.
The shopping list of 106 commonly purchased items, both
branded and private-label, was $404.08 in August 2017 and is now
$394.10 for Prime members, Gordon Haskett found in a report
released Wednesday. That represents savings of about 2.5%, much
less than the double-digit price cuts on certain items like
avocados and apples that occurred in stores to celebrate the
deal closing.
Amazon’s Prime customers pay $119 a year for speedier
delivery and reduced prices on some Whole Foods items. For non-
Prime members, today’s basket is about $8 cheaper.