Amazon Set To Cut Prices At Whole Foods Stores Across U.S.

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Amazon.com Inc. is planning to cut prices on hundreds of items at Austin-based Whole Foods stores this week, as the e-commerce giant seeks to shed its image as a high-cost grocer, according to a published report.

Other than mitigating a reputation as pricey grocery store chain, Amazon also is cutting prices amid intense competition in the grocery store industry, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Amazon bought the Whole Foods chain, which was founded in Austin, in August 2017 for $13.4 billion.

Prices on more than 500 items — with more being added — are set to drop at Whole Foods stores across the U.S. on Wednesday, according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The products slated for price reduction range from sliced salami to popcorn to cod fillets, the newspaper noted.

This isn't the first time the e-commerce retail giant has made cuts to its merchandise since Amazon bought Whole Foods for nearly $14 billion two years ago. The moves are made to counter a perception among some consumers that buying groceries at a Whole Food store required a “whole paycheck,” the Journal reported.

As it revamps its image, the grocer also is contending with intense competition from other big food sellers such as WalmartInc., Kroger Co. and others that are holding down prices in preserving their share of the $1 trillion U.S. market for groceries and consumer products, the business publication noted in its report. The move also comes as Amazon is poised to open a new line of grocery stores independent from Whole Foods as early as later this year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Journal reported that some Whole Foods employees are scheduled to work overnight Tuesday and early-morning shifts on Wednesday to switch out tags in reflecting newly cut prices , with bright orange signs installed to promote them further. The cuts are expected to last at least through the end of the year, according to the documents the Journal reviewed.

Differentiating this price cut from previous ones is that discounts this week will include more produce and meat products, the Journal reported. The price of organic-rainbow carrots, for instance, will drop by $1, to $1.99, and the price of Black Forest ham will drop $3 a pound to $9.99, according to the report.

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