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Amazon Plans Cuts to Shed Whole Foods' Pricey Image (bloomberg.com)
When Amazon completes its acquisition of Whole Foods Market, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos will try to keep the grocer's reputation for premium fresh foods while cutting prices to shed its "Whole Paycheck" image. From a report: Amazon expects to reduce headcount and change inventory to lower prices and make Whole Foods competitive with Wal-Mart Stores and other big-box retailers, according to a person with knowledge of the company's grocery plans. That included potentially using technology to eliminate cashiers. Amazon, known for its competitive prices, is trying to attract more low- and middle-income shoppers with its grocery push. The Seattle-based company already offers discounted Amazon Prime memberships for people receiving government assistance and is part of a pilot program to deliver groceries to food-stamp recipients.
"smug" people really arent any better than "trash"
just because you have money doesnt make you decent (as your post proves)
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
There's unfortunately little you can do. No matter where you go, the trash is shopping there.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I expect the first thing Amazon will change is the back-end distribution system. This is something Amazon knows better than pretty much anyone else, especially for non-perishables, which is probably more than half the store.
I use the phrase "people with more dollars than sense".
When you sympathize with stupidity, you start thinking like an idiot.
No. When I go to a physical establishment, I expect that experience to include one interaction with an employee. Self-checkout is the wrong solution to a problem retailers created: not having enough checkouts open. If you want me to do use self-checkout, thereby doing an employee's job, I want an employee discount. Stop pushing this on customers as if it's some miraculous reverse-ATM.
You could be right, but maybe Amazon is playing the long game, hoping to kill brick-and-mortar by the time its retail division needs to start showing profits (and raising prices).
The cheaper stuff is often made with inferior quality ingredients and then loaded with more salt, sugar and fat to "improve" the taste. It can be tastier and less healthy for you. Taste and price are not the only criteria to consider when picking what to eat. For example, when reading the label on a store brand pack of chicken fingers, I found they contained 34g of sugar per serving, which was more than the ice cream desert in the next freezer.
From a quick glance at the show you linked, it looks like your summary of the show might be lacking, though, it's called "Eat well for less" and it may have a focus on finding good, inexpensive, and healthy food.
Fanatically anti-fanatical
If Amazon can maintain quality while reducing supply chain costs and expanding the customer base to get greater economies of scale tehy could turn Whole Foods into a serious competitor.
If it was a privately held company with a, "Quality is Job #1" slogan they actually believe in, that could happen.
In this case, however - where this was an investment opportunity/buyout by a large investor - I wouldn't hold your breath. Modern, large-scale business theory has a relatively new corollary they believe in: "Good Enough" trumps "Best" to most consumers. In several years, when Amazon's profits growth matures (and it always does), and stockholders start looking for new ways to keep stock prices going up (they always do), quality will be the first thing to go after they fire any remaining, expendable human workers.
I also question the usefulness of a store that doesn't sell essentials like asprin. I can get decent quality steak at Publix, and I can get asprin there too. I might be able to get a better steak from Whole Foods but I suspect I probably wouldn't taste the difference, and after viewing the receipt, I'd have a headache and no asprin to fix it.
Now, sure, I can go to two supermarkets. I can also not, and use the extra half hour to an hour it would take to drive to the next one, park, go in, find what I'm looking for, go to the checkout, buy it, walk back to the car, and drive home, to read another chapter of a book, or watch TV.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.