Amazon expands Whole Foods store assortment via 'store within a store' concept
Shoppers at a Whole Foods Market location in Pennsylvania now have access to national name-brand groceries and everyday essentials from Amazon.
Amazon has debuted a “store within a store” concept at Whole Foods' store in Plymouth Meeting that blends Whole Foods Market's full organic and natural selection alongside national name-brand groceries and household essentials from Amazon. The retail giant built a 10,000-sq.-ft. automated micro-fulfillment center within the existing store’s back-of-house area. (Micro-fulfillment centers are facilities using robotic technology in a compact environment to more efficiently pick and pack orders.)
The micro-fulfillment center stores more than 12,000 unique items from Whole Foods and Amazon. This enables customers to order Whole Foods' full assortment along with Amazon best-selling national and private label products in complementary categories such as household essentials, personal care, snacks, beverages, and frozen items.
This is Amazon’s first-ever automated micro-fulfillment center. The company initially announced plans to place a micro-fulfillment center in its Plymouth Meeting store in October 2024.
Numerous other grocers, including chief Amazon rival Walmart, have piloted or launched micro-fulfillment centers to expedite order processing. One of the most notable is the Customer Fulfillment Center automated fast delivery program Kroger operates in select markets with technology from Ocado.
[READ MORE: Kroger brings fast delivery to two Southwest metro areas]
How it works
The Plymouth Meeting store has QR codes located throughout. Once scanned with a shopper’s smartphone camera, the QR code will open up their Amazon app and take them to a custom mobile storefront.
From there, shoppers will have access to thousands of additional products available beyond the store shelves. When the order is ready, in a time Amazon says is often in less than 10 minutes, customers will receive a text notification to collect their Amazon items at the in-store Amazon pickup & returns counter after finishing up their Whole Foods Market shopping.
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'ShopBots' help fill orders quickly. -
Shelves feature QR codes. -
Shoppers can scan to pay for Amazon items. -
Orders are available at the Amazon pickup & returns counter.
Orders are prepared within minutes whether customers shop online or via QR codes while shopping in-person at the store. When shopping the Plymouth Meeting Whole Foods Market online store in the Amazon app or site, customers will also have access to the expanded product selection. They can build one complete cart of all items with one online checkout.
The new micro-fulfillment center utilizes robotics technology specifically built for grocery from Silicon Valley-based Fulfil. The system uses autonomous "ShopBots" to sort, retrieve, and stage products across all temperature zones, keeping fulfillment activities behind the scenes.
The system manages both Whole Foods Market inventory and the extended Amazon selection from a single automated facility. Orders are prepared within minutes before handoff to an employee who then finalizes it for customer delivery or pickup.
Grocery pickup is free for all customers on orders of any size. For Amazon Prime members, grocery delivery includes a $9.95 service fee or is free with Amazon’s grocery delivery subscription.
"At Whole Foods Market, we've always taken pride in offering a wide selection of natural and organic products, but we understand our customers appreciate the convenience of one-stop shopping," said Jason Buechel, VP of Amazon Worldwide Grocery Stores and CEO of Whole Foods Market. "This new concept store experience allows customers to get everything on their shopping list in one convenient stop or one online order, combining quality with convenience while still delivering the exceptional shopping experience customers expect."
Amazon says it is gathering customer feedback from this first micro-fulfillment center location and plans to refine and expand this offering to additional stores over time.
