The acquisition of Whole Foods gave Amazon an opportunity to extend the value of its subscription ecosystem beyond e-commerce and into brick-and-mortar retail. By integrating Prime benefits with grocery shopping, Amazon aimed to increase customer loyalty, drive store traffic, and encourage more frequent purchases. The strategy highlights how Amazon Prime continues to serve as a powerful tool for connecting digital and physical retail experiences.
Amazon Prime members are salivating. That’s because Amazon is lining up additional benefits for Prime members to shop at Whole Foods. According to the following report, the impact should help Whole Foods volume, which has been in need of a boost.
Amazon has been erasing billions from its rivals’ valuations in the weeks since its acquired Whole Foods. Investors have shed their investments in other grocery stores as they wait to see how Amazon will modernize its new grocery holding. But the best weapon in Amazon’s arsenal isn’t robot cashiers, drones or machine learning — it’s Amazon Prime.
“We believe 80% (38 million) of current US Prime members do not shop at Whole Foods,” Brian Nowak, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said in a recent note. “In this case convenience will likely be the cure, as we expect Amazon to integrate the 1-2 hour Prime Now offering into Whole Foods.” Prime has been Amazon’s biggest advantage in the online retail space. Prime customers spend more money and make more purchases than Amazon’s non-Prime customers, and Amazon is constantly adding new features to the service. Amazon is the first choice retailer for 93% of Americans, according to a recent survey done by RBC.
So after the company makes its initial price cuts at Whole Foods, it’s going to start integrating its secret-weapon Prime service into the grocer, Nowak said. He thinks integrating Prime will drive one-third of Whole Food’s total future growth. Nowak’s model has Whole Foods growing its revenue at a 12% compounded annual growth rate through 2022. Some of this could come from Amazon using Whole Foods to ramp up its Prime Now product, which allows customers to shop online for items to be delivered in hours instead of days.
The main Prime Now landing page on Amazon’s site already features a Whole Foods banner prompting users to explore the offerings now available because of the acquisition. The ad says that Amazon is adding new products weekly from Whole Foods. Nowak says that Prime Now can operate at around a 6% gross profit margin at scale. It will cost Amazon about $75 million over three years to fully implement Prime Now in its stores.
Amazon has been quick to incorporate Whole Foods into its Prime member’s mindset via webpage and Email communications. The marketing possibilities are many—product discounts, online ordering and delivery, meal prep services, and more. Cross selling initiatives will be a key driver to add more Prime members as well as to send more shoppers to Whole Foods. So far, the early results are positive, which gives this deal the potential to be quite appetizing all around for Amazon, Whole Foods, and their customers.
Amazon’s integration of Prime benefits into Whole Foods demonstrated how membership programs can influence shopping behavior and strengthen customer engagement across multiple channels. As retailers continue investing in omnichannel strategies, Amazon Prime will remain a benchmark for leveraging subscriptions, convenience, and personalized offers to drive long-term customer loyalty.
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Associate Director, Research Services at Mercator Advisory Group
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