Amazon racked up sales of $500,000 of Whole Foods Market lines during the first week they went on sale on its website, selling out of 93% of the 100 top-selling SKUs in the process.
The best news for internet giant, which had earlier announced dramatic price cuts across Whole Foods’ grocery and produce staples, was that footfall to Whole Foods stores across the US was also up significantly – 25% on average – over the same selling period. Some commentators have suggested that offering a deep range of Whole Foods Market products online would cannibalise bricks and mortar stores sales.
Amazon listed more 2,000 Whole Foods products (89% food, 11% non-food) on its Amazon Pantry, Fresh and Prime services from day one, impressing online retail analysts. Spencer Millberg, CEO at One Click Retail told US trade website Chain Store Age: “Having all 2,000 items posted and available online as of day one is just incredible. Typically, this type of execution can take between six and 12 months. They had it ready on day one.”
Using data gathered from consumers’ mobile phone location before and after Amazon’s takeover of Whole Foods, mobile data specialist Foursquare says that customer traffic in Whole Foods Market’s bricks and mortar locations was up 25%.