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Amazon serves up grocery store deals for Prime Day

Prime members get savings, benefits at Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go stores

Russell Redman

September 29, 2020

4 Min Read
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Prime members shopping at Whole Foods can pick up Amazon.com orders in Amazon Lockers at selected locations.Amazon

E-tail giant Amazon is spotlighting discounts and special deals at its food stores — including Whole Foods Market, Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go and Amazon Go Grocery — as part of its 2020 Prime Day shopping bonanza.

Amazon’s annual event for members of its Prime benefits program, expanded to two full days last year, takes place on Oct. 13 and 14 this year — pushed back three months from its normal mid-July schedule because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With more than 150 million Prime members worldwide, Prime Day has become one of the biggest shopping days of the year.

Starting today, through the “Spend $10, Get $10” promotion, Prime members can earn up to $50 in credits to use at Amazon.com during Prime Day by shopping in-store at Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go or Amazon Go Grocery. The offer also is available to Prime customers at Amazon Books, Amazon Pop Up and Amazon 4-star stores. After their purchase(s), Prime members will receive an email with instructions on how to redeem their credit(s) on Amazon.com for Prime Day.

To earn the Prime Day credit at Amazon-owned grocery stores, Prime members can shop at any Whole Foods store and scan the Prime code in the Amazon mobile app or use a linked mobile phone number at checkout. They also can place orders for delivery or pickup online at amazon.com/wholefoods or via the Amazon app. Grocery pickup is free at all Whole Foods locations nationwide, Amazon noted.    

Related:Amazon Fresh ‘built to outlast’ other grocery retailers, says Brick Meets Click

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Amazon opened its second cashier less Amazon Go Grocery store earlier this month in Redmond, Wash. The first opened in Seattle in late February.

Amazon Fresh Prime customers can get the credit by using the QR code at the Fresh In-Store section of the Amazon app during checkout. Similarly, Prime shoppers at Amazon Go and Amazon Go Grocery stores can earn Prime Day credit by using the Amazon Go app or Amazon mobile app tied to an Amazon Prime account to enter the store. The “Spend $10, Get $10” offer runs through Oct. 14.

Prime members shopping Whole Foods stores also will find special deals on favorite items in the lead-up to Prime Day, according to Amazon.

Discounts available from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6 include organic honeycrisp apples at $2.69/lb., beef short ribs for $5.99/lb. and sustainable wild-caught shrimp at 30% off. Following those specials will be deals on beef chuck roast ($3.69/lb.), medium avocados (five for $5) and all packaged teas (35% off) from Oct. 7 to 13. Prime members, too, can access more Prime Day offers and weekly deals by asking, “Alexa, what are my Whole Foods deals?”, or by going online to wholefoods.com/primeday

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Via the “Spend $10, Get $10” promotion, Prime members can earn up to $50 in credits to use at Amazon.com during Prime Day by shopping in-store at Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go or Amazon Go Grocery.

Year-round benefits for Prime members, including during Prime Day, include weekly exclusive discounts on selected products and an extra 10% off hundreds of sale items across Whole Foods stores. For online purchases, members also get free two-hour delivery at Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh in more than 2,000 cities and towns. And through Oct. 31, Prime members who apply and receive approval for the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card will get a $100 gift card. Current cardholders receive 5% back at Whole Foods and Amazon.com with an eligible Prime membership, along with 2% back at restaurants, gas stations and drugstores, among other benefits.

Related:Amazon online grocery sales triple in second quarter

Prime membership has been a catalyst for consumer spending at Amazon. Of more than 1,000 Americans ages 18 to 65 recently surveyed by BofA Global Research, 74% were Prime members, up from 68% a year ago. What’s more, Prime members spend an estimated $1,968 annually, up 16% year over year and nearly four times the amount as non-Prime members, who spent $520, up 6% from a year earlier, according to the report, released yesterday by BofA Securities analyst Justin Post.

During its second quarter ended June 30, Amazon saw physical store sales drop 13% to $3.8 billion, while online grocery sales tripled. Store sales come mainly from Whole Foods locations and exclude online orders made via Amazon’s brick-and-mortar brands, such as Prime Now delivery and pickup via Whole Foods. The company also attributed the decrease to less in-store traffic amid the pandemic. Sales at physical stores, fueled by the initial surge in consumer demand for food and essential supplies after the COVID-19 outbreak, had climbed 8% in the first quarter.

Currently, Amazon’s U.S. physical stores include 487 Whole Foods Markets, one Amazon Fresh grocery store, two Amazon Go Grocery stores, 26 Amazon Go cashierless convenience stores (five locations temporarily closed), 23 Amazon Books stores, 25 Amazon 4-Star outlets (one temporarily closed) and seven Presented by Amazon pop-up locations (one temporarily closed).

For our most up-to-date coverage, visit the coronavirus homepage.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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