One click groceries? That may be the future of food shopping. Amazon recently acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. Whole Foods is known as a higher price grocery store specializing in organic food. Amazon wants to offer a unique way to buy food.
Amazon plans to expand grocery shopping online, offering different options for their customers. As a start, Amazon intends to drastically lower prices at Whole Foods stores.
Meg Harrison is a Whole Foods customer that buys from Whole Foods because she thinks other supermarkets’ products, like yogurt and juice, are loaded with sugar. Harrison feels food is loaded with chemicals and Whole Foods is organic and clearly much better for consumers.
Harrison believes that the increase in obesity and different cancers are due to food additives. She does not intend to utilize Amazon’s online markets and hope it does not affect the quality of the food.
Harrison said, “I’m a little nervous because Amazon is a giant corporation and I hope it doesn’t ruin the integrity of the products. As far as prices being lowered, I’m not worried. Pure food is worth paying for.” If the other supermarkets go out of business, Harrison hopes that their employees who may lose their job can find a new one. Harrison expressed that she’s nervous because Amazon is an online company and thinks it would be strange if they put groceries online.
Raina White, a nurse and mom, is also a Whole Foods shopper. She is all about organic food. White said she is willing to pay extra for online shopping because there are no Whole Foods stores near her home. She would do this to help her health, especially since she is battling cancer.
White feels that other grocery stores might go out of business, but thinks it is important for organizations to work towards easy and quick access to groceries.
“Whole Foods can’t arrive the same day you need. We need stores within range to get things we need,” White said. “The good thing about the Amazon acquisition is we may have more Whole Foods stores in the area. The closest one is 12 miles away from my home. The only bad thing is they may change some of the products.”
Ann Harrison, a Cabrini alum currently working in the Cavalier Express Center, is also a Whole Foods shopper. She would not be interested in buying groceries online.
Ann Harrison said, “When it comes to food and freshness, I prefer to shop in person so that I can see exactly what I am buying.” She believes that Amazon’s ability to lower prices at Whole Foods will allegedly be done largely through logistics.
Amazon has a huge supply chain that streamlines delivery. By combining their highly efficient operations with Whole Foods’ existing infrastructure, Amazon can significantly reduce Whole Foods’ prices without affecting the quality of the products.
Ann Harrison shared that, “While this plan sounds promising, I do have some concerns that the quality of the products will change. For one, Amazon has had troubles in the past with lower quality, counterfeit products appearing on their website. If Amazon has been slow to remove such products from their website because they are able to make a profit from them, who’s to say they wouldn’t be willing to compromise the value of Whole Foods’ products if it meant a larger profit for them?”
Additionally, she is concerned with how Amazon will handle local sourcing and hopes that they will maintain those partnerships. Ann Harrison also thinks it’s a smart move for Amazon.
Ann Harrison said,“ Despite some of my concerns, I have always been pleased with Amazon’s quality and efficiency, and so I hope for the best with this merger!”
