Amazon today unveiled a preview of its official rewards program for Whole Foods shoppers by slashing prices on turkeys and other items ahead of the holidays, while offering even deeper discounts to customers who are also Amazon Prime members. Amazon’s plan to reward Prime members with additional savings was previously announced by the companies as one of the many integrations and perks following Amazon’s $13.7 billion acquisition of the grocery store chain this year.
Following the deal’s close, Amazon immediately made good on some of those promises by lowering prices on select grocery items.
Today, Amazon is offering a small, but powerful, example of what the savings for Prime members may look like as the discount program kicks off.
In an announcement, Whole Foods says that it’s lowering prices on select organic turkeys to $3.49 per pound, and on no-antibiotic turkeys to $2.49 per pound, starting now.
But Prime members will pay even less – they’ll only be charged $2.99 per pound and $1.99 per pound, respectively.
The grocery chain also introduced a new wave of price cuts across items, including staples and holiday favorites, it says.
This includes lower prices on Value Pack Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (Organic and No Antibiotic), Responsibly Farmed Raw Peeled Shrimp, 365 Everyday Value Canned Pumpkin, Organic Broccoli, 1lb Organic Salad Mixes, Organic Russet Potatoes, and Organic Sweet Potatoes.
However, the price cuts extend beyond Whole Foods’ own brands and produce.
It will also offer lower prices on well-known and organic brands like organic rice from Lundberg Family Farms, organic beans from Eden Foods, organic chicken and vegetable broths from Pacific Foods, organic eggs and milk from Organic Valley, toothpaste from Tom’s of Maine, Pasture Raised Eggs from Vital Farms, plus Chobani Yogurt, California Olive Ranch EVOO, Siggis Yogurt, Applegate Hot Dogs, and Fage Yogurt.
Amazon has not wasted any time in leveraging its Whole Foods brick-and-mortar footprint. Beyond the price cuts, Amazon is selling its devices at Whole Foods, like Fire tablets and Echo speakers, and even running a number of pop-up holiday shops, example.
“These are the latest new lower prices in our ongoing integration and innovation with Amazon, and we’re just getting started,” said John Mackey, Whole Foods Market co-founder and CEO, in a statement about the new discounts. “In the few months we’ve been working together, our partnership has proven to be a great fit. We’ll continue to work closely together to ensure we’re consistently surprising and delighting our customers while moving toward our goal of reaching more people with Whole Foods Market’s high-quality, natural, and organic food,” he added.
Prime members who want to take advantage of the turkey discounts will have to print a coupon from Amazon’s website to be presented at checkout. If the customer already bought a turkey, they can return to the store for a credit, the website notes. Presumably, when the two companies’ systems are integrated, a physical coupon will no longer be required.
The discounted turkeys can be reserved online then picked up at a local store, or bought on customers’ usual shopping trip. In that case, customers are advised to look for the turkeys marked with an orange stripe that says “Special Savings.”
The announcement of the price cuts has already impacted the stocks for rival chains, FT reports. Shares of Kroger, Sprouts Farmers Market, Costco and Walmart fell on Wednesday, following the news.