Amazon rolls out Prime discounts at Whole Foods
Members will receive 10 percent off sale items and weekly deals
Shopping at Whole Foods Market stores could get a little less expensive for Bay Area shoppers who already shell out $119 per year for an Amazon Prime membership.
Starting Wednesday, Prime members will get an additional 10 percent off Whole Foods sale items plus weekly discounts on certain popular items.
The offer began in Florida Whole Foods stores earlier this month, but is now expanding across 12 states, including northern California, and into all Whole Foods Market 365 stores nationwide.
To get the discounts, customers can opt to use their mobile phone number associated with their Prime account at the register or can download the Whole Foods Market app, sign in with their Amazon account and then scan the app’s Prime Code at checkout.
Since it closed on a deal to buy Whole Foods Market last summer, Amazon has worked to integrate the two companies. It immediately cut prices on some grocery products, announcing then that members of its Amazon Prime program would eventually see additional discounts and other benefits. The company also began installing Amazon lockers at Whole Foods, where customers can pick up online orders or process Amazon returns.
At the end of last year, Amazon also started rolling out branded “pop-up stores” inside various Bay Area Whole
Foods, which allow shoppers to demo devices such as the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Fire TV, Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets and other tech products and get information about Amazon services and Prime memberships from Amazon employees inside the grocery stores.
The latest Whole Foods discounts will also be available to Prime members who get their groceries delivered via Amazon’s Prime Now program, which provides free two-hour delivery on orders of more than $35 in some markets, including San Francisco-area stores. Whole Foods Market officials say grocery delivery options will continue to expand this year.
Membership will give Whole Foods shoppers access to steeper discounts. Amazon recently raised the membership price to $119 per year from $99, about a 20 percent jump.