Whole Foods to offer 30-minute pickup

If two-hour delivery isn’t quick enough for grocery shoppers, Whole Foods Market is now offering pickup in as little as 30 minutes.

Customers can order through Amazon’s Prime app and choose a pickup time as short as half an hour from ordering. Whole Foods employees will load the groceries into customers’ vehicles when they arrive. For faster pickup, they can tell the app they’re on the way and a representative will be waiting with the groceries when shoppers arrive.

“Pickup from Whole Foods Market is a perfect option for customers who want to grab healthy and organic groceries at their convenience, all without leaving their car,” said Stephenie Landry, worldwide vice president of Prime Now, AmazonFresh and Amazon Restaurants.

The 30-minute pickup costs $4.99, but if Prime customers want to avoid the fee, they can choose to pickup in one hour instead for free. Orders must be over $35 for pickup.

The pilot program is starting in Sacramento and Virginia Beach, but Whole Foods plans to expand to more cities through the rest of 2018.

Whole Foods has a location in Washington Twp., two in the Cincinnati area and two in the Columbus area.

Since Amazon acquired Whole Foods in Aug. 2017 for $13.7 billion, it has shaken up the grocery industry. The company has changed the way customers shop and receive their groceries, including pickup and delivery.