Whole Foods' New Amazon Prime Discounts Are Expanding Across the Country
Amazon's influence on Whole Foods, i.e., a gargantuan price-slashing frenzy aimed at the e-retailer's Prime members, is starting to gather steam. Since announcing a 10% discount for its 100 million Prime members at select Whole Foods last month, Amazon has been quietly plotting the scheme's expansion. On Wednesday, it announced the discounts are spreading to Whole Foods Markets in 12 additional states and to every Whole Foods 365 store nationwide.
The discount now applies to Amazon Prime members in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri, Louisiana, New Mexico, northern Nevada, northern California, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and to Whole Foods 365 locations nationwide, which includes Ohio, Oregon, and New York. If you weren't swept up in the corporate grocery fervor last month, here's the premise: Shoppers can recoup the savings by using the Whole Foods Market mobile app at checkout for "hundreds of items" as well as various select deals that will be offered in a weekly rotation at the grocery chain. You just have to link your Amazon Prime account to the Whole Foods app.
To give you an idea of the items up for discounts, here's what's on sale this week:
- Organic raspberries, $2.50 per 6 oz. container
- Responsibly Farmed tail-on white shrimp, 2 lb. bag (31-40 ct. per lb.) for $12.99, save $5
- Antibiotic-free rotisserie chicken, $6 each (one-day sale, May 30)
- Back to Nature crackers and cookies, 2 for $5
- 40 percent off all probiotic supplements (weekend sale, June 1 - June 3)
- Plus an additional 10 percent off hundreds of sale items throughout the store
Whole Foods alliance with Amazon should probably bear more fruit in the future, and provide more reason to forget about Amazon's recent increase in Prime membership fees.