Amazon's Whole Foods of the Future......

[Zacha341]

Well the future [[online/ kiosk etc. technology driven) has ushered the purchase Whole Foods! I really don't shop at our Detroit WF's often but when I do, I note the high staff-to-shopper ratio and often welcome it.

This will change. Owner Mackey won't have to dole out the pink slips directly! I think the bigger stores in the more affluent markets will retain as much staff as possible in an attempt to retain the WF's brand culture. I wonder how fast our Detroit location will change?

https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-who...of-the-future/

Amazon’s Whole Foods buy may usher in the store of the future www.cnet.com Big changes may someday be coming to Whole Foods, including delivery drones, no checkout lines and [[gasp) lower prices.

[313WX]

Well who didn't know that was coming...

Whole Foods will soon be a shell of its former shelf under Jeff Bezos' watch.

[Wesley Mouch]

Well who didn't know that was coming...

Whole Foods will soon be a shell of its former shelf under Jeff Bezos' watch.

Good 'shelf' pun.

Pining for the little corner market fun. But its over. I like being able to get some things shipped home rather than only being able to shop in person.

WF was already becoming a shell of its former 'shelf'... as it was struggling to fight against traditional retailers and their organic offerings. This is just the market evolving to serve us, and work to keep our food costs absurdly low while quality and selection improves. You may not like it -- but the market says that a lot of other people do it seems.

[clubboss]

Deal was approved by shareholders, I believe it's closing Monday. Amazon will lower prices, improve WF's bottom line, and best of all, Amazon Prime members will reap some benefits from this deal - perhaps an added discount at checkout.

"...Amazon also said that starting next week, it will offer lower prices on popular items, including "Whole Trade organic bananas, responsibly-farmed salmon, organic large brown eggs, animal-welfare-rated 85% lean ground beef, and more..."
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/24/amaz...re-profit.html

I'm not familiar with animal-welfare-rated beef.

[Honky Tonk]

Deal was approved by shareholders, I believe it's closing Monday. Amazon will lower prices, improve WF's bottom line, and best of all, Amazon Prime members will reap some benefits from this deal - no details yet.

"...Amazon also said that starting next week, it will offer lower prices on popular items, including "Whole Trade organic bananas, responsibly-farmed salmon, organic large brown eggs, animal-welfare-rated 85% lean ground beef, and more..."
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/24/amaz...re-profit.html

I'm not familiar with animal-welfare-rated beef.

I thought it was an assistance program for cattle out of work, but apparently not...

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/miss...welfare-rating

[3WC]

Yes, Whole Paycheck is about to change. Has to be for the better I think. I can afford to shop there but never have and probably never will. Way overpriced and too trendy for me. Nino Salvaggio's is a far, far better place to shop.

[Hermod]

Yes, Whole Paycheck is about to change. Has to be for the better I think. I can afford to shop there but never have and probably never will. Way overpriced and too trendy for me. Nino Salvaggio's is a far, far better place to shop.

When we were up in the area two years ago, my wife fell in love with Nino Salvagggio's and wished we had one in Florida. We have a WF within walking distance, but we never go there.

[Gistok]

I live about 1/2 mile from the original Nino Salvaggio's at 11 Mile and Harper in St. Clair Shores, and our store is only 20% as large as the Nino super stores... but it is my favorite store in the world to get fresh quality food at. I even take out of state people there to this smallest of their stores, and they all say the same... they wish they had a store like Nino's in their neck of the woods.

[Johnnny5]

Amazon will lower prices, improve WF's bottom line

Improve the bottom line? I'm not so sure about that one.
Does Amazon even have a bottom line? They make next to nothing selling goods and pay next to nothing in U.S taxes [[And have done both for decades). Honestly, I really struggle to see the point of Amazon as a retailer. Either they are trying to be the world's largest non-profit or they have some ultra-long term plans to gouge customers once they have bankrupted all competition. Either way, it's kind of worrisome.

[casscorridor]

Improve the bottom line? I'm not so sure about that one.
Does Amazon even have a bottom line? They make next to nothing selling goods and pay next to nothing in U.S taxes [[And have done both for decades). Honestly, I really struggle to see the point of Amazon as a retailer. Either they are trying to be the world's largest non-profit or they have some ultra-long term plans to gouge customers once they have bankrupted all competition. Either way, it's kind of worrisome.

logistics and cloud computing.

[Johnnny5]

logistics and cloud computing.

Yes, they could be pulling huge profits from their hosting/cloud computing services [[If they weren't spending nearly every dime expanding as a retailer) and that's precisely why everyone should be worried. What's the end game?

[clubboss]

Attachment 34069

One of several baner pic's this morning on Amazon's website.

[JBMcB]

Yes, they could be pulling huge profits from their hosting/cloud computing services [[If they weren't spending nearly every dime expanding as a retailer) and that's precisely why everyone should be worried. What's the end game?

Well, as it comes to groceries, Amazon and Whole Foods, combined, have roughly 1.5% market share. Wal-Mart has the highest market share of any grocery store, at 16%, with Kroger, the largest dedicated grocery chain coming in second at 15%.

So, if Amazon is willing to spend astronomical amounts of money, maybe they can have 1/6 of the market as well.