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Are Amazon lockers turning Whole Foods into a quick shop destination?

March 28, 2018Written by RetailWire Staff

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Changes keep coming at Whole Foods since its acquisition by Amazon.com. One fairly small change, the addition of Amazon lockers at Whole Foods’ stores, seems to be having an impact on how people shop there. Three-to-five minute-long "micro visits" have increased by 11 percent at Whole Foods stores that are outfitted with Amazon lockers, according to a study by inMarket, reported on by CNBC. The study looked at 98 stores in 10 markets with 76 having lockers. Stores without lockers in the same city experienced micro visit gains of only seven percent. Micro visits make up nine percent of total visits to grocery stores, but Whole Foods is still below that average at 6.5 percent for the year so far. Experts in the article noted that such trips could lead to impulse purchases, but there was no data on how many of the short trips to use lockers also yielded in-store purchases at Whole Foods. Recent reports have indicated that Amazon may be making other moves that would situate Whole Foods as a destination for customers to do non-grocery business with the e-tailer. Earlier in March, news broke that Amazon is seeking to build a service at Whole Foods that will allow customers to pick up goods ordered online from "a set of marquee third-party retailers." Amazon has rolled out other programs since the acquisition which have tightened the bonds between its shopping ecosystem and that of the organic grocery chain. In February, it was announced that Amazon Rewards Visa cardholders who are Amazon Prime members would earn five percent cash back on purchases at Whole Foods. Amazon also rolled out one- and two-hour grocery delivery from Whole Foods for Prime Now customers in some markets.

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