Can Linking Amazon’s Grocery Banners to Amazon.com Elevate One-Stop Shopping?

Amazon is reconfiguring its fulfillment centers to allow Prime members to add goods from Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods in one cart to support the ultimate one-stop shopping solution.

In one experiment, Amazon is building its first-ever automated micro-fulfillment center next to a Pennsylvania Whole Foods store to enable the organic grocer’s shoppers to also purchase popular mainstream products from its Amazon Fresh banner and everyday essentials from the Amazon.com platform.

Tony Hoggett, SVP of Worldwide Grocery Stores at Amazon, said in a blog entry that adding a micro-fulfillment center to a Whole Foods location helps customers avoid buying from multiple stores for all their shopping needs.

“Customers shopping at Whole Foods Market today love the high-quality products offered,” he said. “We also know that many customers sometimes visit other stores to complete their shopping list. What if we could eliminate those extra trips without changing the in-store experience our customers love?”

With the addition of the micro-fulfillment center, Prime customers will have three ways to purchase items across Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and the Amazon.com platform from the single location:

• Online delivery
• In-store pickup at the location
• Online ordering while physically shopping inside the store

“Let’s imagine a customer is shopping in store,” said Hoggett. “As they browse the aisles for their favorite Whole Foods Market products, they can also easily place an order for Tide Pods and Pepsi from the Amazon app on their phone. These additional items will be prepared in the back-of-house while the customer finishes up shopping, and will be ready to go when they check out — all within minutes after placing the order.”

He added, “With micro fulfillment, customers get access to more products they want without having to visit multiple stores.”

With a similar shopper goal of making Amazon home delivery more of a one-stop shop, Amazon is also running a trial in the greater Phoenix area where customers can shop for grocery items — including fresh groceries — alongside Amazon.com products and have them delivered together. Tests in other locations are in the works. Hoggett said, “It’s Amazon’s unparalleled selection under one roof, coupled with same-day delivery speeds and multiple delivery window options, that sets this experience apart.”

At Amazon Fresh, 26 fulfillment centers will be adding “the best of Whole Foods Market and household goods on Amazon.com” to similarly offer Amazon Fresh online shoppers a wider selection of products across price points.

Hoggett said of the overall effort, “At the end of the day, customers want choice when it comes to groceries, and the ability to shop for different products, price points, and occasions, all within a shopping experience they know and love. They want to know they are getting extra savings and benefits, no matter if they shop online, in a store, for a weekly or top-up shop, or for budget or premium items. This is what we’re building at Amazon.”