Amazon to accelerate its assault on UK supermarkets

AMAZON’S assault on Britain’s supermarkets will begin sooner than expected after its £10.7bn takeover of upmarket food retailer Whole Foods cleared without a hitch this week.

The pair are set to push ahead their plans for the alliance just days after the deal closed, in a competitive move which is expected to be seismic for the food retailing sector.

From next week Amazon will cut the price of Whole Foods’ high-quality, natural and organic foods to broaden appeal beyond its traditional customer base of largely middle-class shoppers.

Discounts will be offered on staples such as organic bananas, responsiblyfarmed salmon, organic brown eggs and animal welfare-rated ground beef.

Meanwhile the pair’s technology teams are preparing to integrate the Amazon Prime service with Whole Foods’ point-of-sale systems to offer Prime members special savings and instore benefits.

Whole Foods stores will also be kitted out with Amazon delivery lockers to allow customers’ online purchases to be delivered to their local store.

“We’re determined to make healthy and organic food affordable for everyone. Everybody should be able to eat Whole Foods Market quality – we will lower prices without compromising Whole Foods Market’s long-held commitment to the highest standards,” said Jeff Wilke, chief executive of Amazon’s global consumer division.

Amazon has long awaited the opportunity to move into food retailing. Its surprisingly swift entry into the battle of Britain’s supermarkets is less than a week after the takeover was approved by the US Federal Trade Commission.

Regulators signed off on the deal after dismissing competition concerns on Wednesday.