Internet giant Amazon is successfully luring food grocery shoppers into Whole Foods Market stores from high street rivals, reports Bloomberg.
While there has been plenty of conjecture about the so-called ‘Amazon effect’ on US grocery retail, following last year’s purchase of Whole Foods by the online retailer, hard data has been slow to feed through.
But new research from Sense360, a Los Angeles company that tracks location data from millions of smartphone users, has given insights into what’s been happening on shopping streets. The new data shows that in more than 100 places around the US, Whole Foods has been gaining foot traffic at the expense of Trader Joe’s, Walgreen and Dollar Tree Stores in the past year.
News that Whole Foods has apparently been stealing customers from one of its traditional natural foods rivals, Trader Joe’s, has surprised retail pundits who expected the likes Walmart and Kroger to take any footfall hit.
Part of Amazon’s success in gaining new Whole Foods shoppers is undoubtedly due to the aggressive use of its Prime scheme, which offers extensive discounts to members across everyday essentials.
Brad Stone of Bloomberg Technology says that Whole Foods has increased shower number by 11% in 2018, compared to +9% in 2017. It’s achieved that partly by “getting people excited about discounts, something that’s not traditionally associated with Whole Foods market.”