
Amazon will lower Whole Foods prices right away - tosh
https://www.recode.net/2017/8/24/16198716/amazon-whole-foods-lower-prices-prime-discounts-benefits
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oblib
Well... I went to a Whole Foods store in Destin, FL last week and was stunned
at how much they're charging so I'm pretty sure they've got a lot of headroom
to do this.

What was truly laughable was what they charged for non-organic fresh fruits
and veggies and the poor quality of those. Most of what they had was stuff
other stores would have thrown out several days before they got to the point
they had there.

They were charging over $3.50 for an organic cucumber and around $30 a pound
for T-Bone steaks. I guess I've been living in the Ozarks for too long because
I had to laugh about that.

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gumby
> I...was stunned at how much they're charging so I'm pretty sure they've got
> a lot of headroom to do this.

The headline price doesn't actually tell you this. The fact that WF gets a 5%
margin and Amazon gets 2% is what tells you there's a lot of room for price
reduction.

BTW this is a classic example of how an asset can be worth more to the buyer
than the seller (i.e. how you can get a win-win transaction): Whole Food's
market cap was based on those margins, which are significantly higher than its
competition. It was hard for them to move (lower prices, expand etc) as it
would challenge their true differentiator.

While Amazon's investors are comfortable with lower margins, so Amazon has
plenty of room in which to make experiments, move some of their supply chain
expertise into the business, discover what parts of their existing model _don
't_ transfer etc.

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mywittyname
Whole Foods is wildly overpriced and their selection kind of sucks. Their
store brands are good, but Kroger has made strides with their Private Label.

They really don't have enough to justify the 20-30% increase in weekly grocery
bills over shopping at Kroger. I go there for the seafood counter and that's
about it.

Amazon has a golden opportunity on their hands. I tend to rotate between
grocery stores because not every place has what I want. If Amazon could make
Whole Foods cheaper and widen the selection I could probably shop there
exclusively (especially if there are prime perks).

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epmaybe
I just want an easy way to know where everything in the store is! I spend
twice the amount of time I should just trying to find the items I need.

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joezydeco
You don't believe that's accidental, do you? =)

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zakk
So they will be selling at a loss to send competitors out of business?

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Larrikin
Will it be at loss? I normally avoid the place but it's close to where I live.
I wanted to get some nicer mushrooms for a meal than what I'd normally get but
they only had the same types as everyone else. Went to aldi that same day and
saw the exact same brands and packaging but with a few more types.

The button mushrooms at whole foods were six dollars. The exact same ones at
aldi were under three.

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angryasian
Trader Joes has limited selection but good quality and good prices overall. I
welcome the competition.

