Amazon is trying to give its Prime members more reasons to shop at Whole Foods.
The company announced on Wednesday that it’s rolling out additional deals and discounts for members of its subscription service at the high-end grocer, which it acquired last year. Prime members will get an extra 10% off the hundreds of items already on sale throughout the store, and the company will offer a deep discount every week on best-selling items.
“That’s significant,” Whole Foods CEO John Mackey told Coins2Day. “What we’ve seen is when we do special deals for Prime members, we get a lot of traffic.”
The company is launching the new benefits in Florida on Wednesday—$10 a pound off on halibut, $2 off organic strawberries, for example—and will roll out the program nationally this summer. Prime members will receive these discounts by scanning a Whole Foods app at checkout.
Amazon has been implementing perks for its Prime members in Whole Foods since it acquired the grocery chain over the summer. The moves are, in part, meant to integrate the two companies and further immerse shoppers within the Prime ecosystem. Amazon has launched free two-hour delivery from Whole Foods through its Prime Now service in 10 cities, has Amazon lockers for package pick up at Whole Foods, and is selling Amazon products in stores.
The price cuts are part of effort to help Whole Foods shake its reputation as an expensive place to shop. “We’re going to to become increasingly more price competitive,” says Mackey. “That’s something that’s been a long-time dream of mine. Our merger with Amazon is helping to make that a reality.”
Mackey notes that it’s only been nine months since the acquisition and says the two companies are just now beginning to innovate together.
