Prime members will get extra discounts at Whole Foods locations

[Greg S]

Amazon is beginning to take further advantage of its acquisition of Whole Foods by offering additional discounts on sale items to members of its Prime service. Customers that have Prime memberships will soon be receiving an extra 10 percent off of sale items within Whole Foods stores.

Currently, Amazon is trialing the program with certain Whole Foods customers in Florida with the expectation that a national roll out will occur during the summer.

Whole Foods used to be a fairly expensive store known for organics without any artificial additives. Amazon is aiming to change the perception of being too expensive for the majority of shoppers and is using its online shopping business to try and bring more consumers to its grocery stores.

In total, any given Whole Foods store has tens of thousands of products available. Out of the many items carried, Prime discounts will apply to a relatively small number and could help encourage shoppers to purchase items that may not be priced as aggressively.

This is the same tactic that Amazon has employed on its website. Certain items have traditionally been steeply discounted to pricing significantly below competitors. The goal is to create a distraction and make it appear as though Amazon is always going to have the best pricing all the time no matter what you are shopping for.

In order to receive discounts in Whole Foods stores, the Whole Foods app must be downloaded and then a bar code can be scanned at checkouts. Amazon is then able to track purchase history of customers to gather information on which items could be potentially attractive as sale items; a practice so common that it is nearly an exception for a store not to do this.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/74654-prime-members-get-extra-discounts-whole-foods-locations.html

 

[psycros]

Its reaching the point where getting what *should* be a normal price on things is too complicated to fool with. This is why places like Aldi and Dollar General are doing so well - no apps, no cards, just a competitive price. The next big thing will be a chain of stores that pride themselves on not monetizing their customers or forcing them to jump through absurd hoops, while still offering good value.

 

[wiyosaya]

Its reaching the point where getting what *should* be a normal price on things is too complicated to fool with. This is why places like Aldi and Dollar General are doing so well - no apps, no cards, just a competitive price. The next big thing will be a chain of stores that pride themselves on not monetizing their customers or forcing them to jump through absurd hoops, while still offering good value.

I agree. To me, this looks like crapAzon wants to track what is bought by customers to market more junk to those customers and/or monetize the data to third-parties. The hook is that they are waving getting an 10-percent additional off sale priced items, which to me, would not amount to much savings as I am not necessarily going to buy something just because it is on sale. I typically only buy what I need and if it is on sale, then great. It sounds like any savings from this would not, for me anyway, amount to much. If it does not save the prime subscription price for me, then I am not interested.

If someone is a sale price shopper, perhaps this would work out for them.

 

[BSim500]

Its reaching the point where getting what *should* be a normal price on things is too complicated to fool with.

I know what you mean. I never did understand the "Exclusive for Prime Members" thing on perfectly normal computer parts available to buy at a dozen other places for roughly same price... It's not a "discount" if it's not actually cheaper for Prime members vs non-Amazon, just a "Prime Paywall" if lack of Prime makes it more expensive for non-Prime Amazon customers to shop at Amazon vs elsewhere.

 

[Dimitrios]

Its reaching the point where getting what *should* be a normal price on things is too complicated to fool with. This is why places like Aldi and Dollar General are doing so well - no apps, no cards, just a competitive price. The next big thing will be a chain of stores that pride themselves on not monetizing their customers or forcing them to jump through absurd hoops, while still offering good value.

I have to admit Aldi's ain't no joke. Heard my mom talking about it all the time. Tried it and the food is very cheap in price but taste better then any other stores like frozen pizza's, Popcorn, & other snacks they make. IDK how they do it but the food is real good.

 

[TomSEA]

Whole Foods is expensive as hell to begin with. It's a trendy, "boutique" grocery store and you pay for that.

10% off still puts similar items at 5-10% more of what you would pay at Safeway.

 

[MonsterZero]

Its reaching the point where getting what *should* be a normal price on things is too complicated to fool with. This is why places like Aldi and Dollar General are doing so well - no apps, no cards, just a competitive price. The next big thing will be a chain of stores that pride themselves on not monetizing their customers or forcing them to jump through absurd hoops, while still offering good value.

I agree with the price point being too high, but you're comparing Aldi and Dollar General to Whole Foods. Whole foods has organic brands and grass-fed higher quality meats and you can get beer to go in their stores, so they aren't exactly on the same level. Aldi and Dollar General are bulk goods stores, you'd be better off comparing Sprouts, Whole Food's, and Central Market.

That being said, I would drop any of those stores for a HEB! they don't play.

 

[wiyosaya]

Its reaching the point where getting what *should* be a normal price on things is too complicated to fool with. This is why places like Aldi and Dollar General are doing so well - no apps, no cards, just a competitive price. The next big thing will be a chain of stores that pride themselves on not monetizing their customers or forcing them to jump through absurd hoops, while still offering good value.

I agree with the price point being too high, but you're comparing Aldi and Dollar General to Whole Foods. Whole foods has organic brands and grass-fed higher quality meats and you can get beer to go in their stores, so they aren't exactly on the same level. Aldi and Dollar General are bulk goods stores, you'd be better off comparing Sprouts, Whole Food's, and Central Market.

That being said, I would drop any of those stores for a HEB! they don't play.

I have to agree with that. I used to shop conventional, however, I found that for me, anyway, organic tastes better in general and in my area, is not much more expensive than conventional foods. We do not, yet, have a Whole Foods in our area, but I have vacationed in areas where there are Whole Foods stores, and things like their organic produce are of good quality, IMO.

As I see it, every bit spent on quality food is saved with less health problems. Processed foods, in particular, have been recently tied to an increased cancer risk - https://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20180214/highly-processed-foods-tied-to-higher-cancer-risk

Its reaching the point where getting what *should* be a normal price on things is too complicated to fool with. This is why places like Aldi and Dollar General are doing so well - no apps, no cards, just a competitive price. The next big thing will be a chain of stores that pride themselves on not monetizing their customers or forcing them to jump through absurd hoops, while still offering good value.

I have to admit Aldi's ain't no joke. Heard my mom talking about it all the time. Tried it and the food is very cheap in price but taste better then any other stores like frozen pizza's, Popcorn, & other snacks they make. IDK how they do it but the food is real good.

Perhaps they taste better because of additives like monosodium glutamate, or because they add fat, salt, or sugar. Even many food items marketed as "healthy" sometimes reduce one thing like fat, but increase other things like sugar to maintain taste.

Perhaps the best thing that anyone can do is get foods that have the fewest, pronounceable ingredients in them. Foods with long, unpronounceable chemical names should be avoided at all costs, IMO.

 

[captaincranky]

I agree with the price point being too high, but you're comparing Aldi and Dollar General to Whole Foods. Whole foods has organic brands and grass-fed higher quality meats and you can get beer to go in their stores, so they aren't exactly on the same level. Aldi and Dollar General are bulk goods stores, you'd be better off comparing Sprouts, Whole Food's, and Central Market.

That being said, I would drop any of those stores for a HEB! they don't play.

You keep paying those high prices, odds are you might live on life support systems a month or two longer than the rest of us! (y)

Best way to describe Whole foods, (IMH pedestrian O), is "pretentious", and "overpriced"

Bruce Springsteen said, pushing 40 years ago, "poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and a king ain't satisfied til he rules everything". If that doesn't describe Jeff Bezos to a "T", nothing does.

 

[TomSEA]

Its reaching the point where getting what *should* be a normal price on things is too complicated to fool with. This is why places like Aldi and Dollar General are doing so well - no apps, no cards, just a competitive price. The next big thing will be a chain of stores that pride themselves on not monetizing their customers or forcing them to jump through absurd hoops, while still offering good value.

I agree with the price point being too high, but you're comparing Aldi and Dollar General to Whole Foods. Whole foods has organic brands and grass-fed higher quality meats and you can get beer to go in their stores, so they aren't exactly on the same level. Aldi and Dollar General are bulk goods stores, you'd be better off comparing Sprouts, Whole Food's, and Central Market.

That being said, I would drop any of those stores for a HEB! they don't play.

I have to agree with that. I used to shop conventional, however, I found that for me, anyway, organic tastes better in general and in my area, is not much more expensive than conventional foods. We do not, yet, have a Whole Foods in our area, but I have vacationed in areas where there are Whole Foods stores, and things like their organic produce are of good quality, IMO.

As I see it, every bit spent on quality food is saved with less health problems. Processed foods, in particular, have been recently tied to an increased cancer risk - https://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20180214/highly-processed-foods-tied-to-higher-cancer-risk

Its reaching the point where getting what *should* be a normal price on things is too complicated to fool with. This is why places like Aldi and Dollar General are doing so well - no apps, no cards, just a competitive price. The next big thing will be a chain of stores that pride themselves on not monetizing their customers or forcing them to jump through absurd hoops, while still offering good value.

I have to admit Aldi's ain't no joke. Heard my mom talking about it all the time. Tried it and the food is very cheap in price but taste better then any other stores like frozen pizza's, Popcorn, & other snacks they make. IDK how they do it but the food is real good.

Perhaps they taste better because of additives like monosodium glutamate, or because they add fat, salt, or sugar. Even many food items marketed as "healthy" sometimes reduce one thing like fat, but increase other things like sugar to maintain taste.

Perhaps the best thing that anyone can do is get foods that have the fewest, pronounceable ingredients in them. Foods with long, unpronounceable chemical names should be avoided at all costs, IMO.

I know everyone's taste buds are different, but I find organic fruits and vegetables to be really bland. And small. You're paying more for a lesser weight than non-organic food. But organic meat? Especially beef? There's no doubting how much better that tastes. Kobe beef as example.

 

[wiyosaya]

I know everyone's taste buds are different, but I find organic fruits and vegetables to be really bland. And small. You're paying more for a lesser weight than non-organic food. But organic meat? Especially beef? There's no doubting how much better that tastes. Kobe beef as example.

Perhaps the quality of the produce is specific to the market area that you are in. In my area, we have organic oranges that are nearly the size of grapefruits, and taste excellent, IMO. Most of the other produce is excellent, too.

It might also depend on whether it is USDA Certified Organic or whether it is certified by an independent organic certifier. Unfortunately, "Organic" has lost a lot of its meaning in recent years since USDA Organic was born. Small cooperatives and small organically oriented stores are also much choosier in terms of what they carry than big stores are. Even though we have a chain grocer in our area, Wegman's, that carries a variety of organic produce, we typically buy produce from our local cooperative.

Organic or even grass-fed beef has a very different fat profile than beef that is fed corn - like most typical "conventional" beef. And I agree, it is significantly better in taste than conventional beef.

If you like beef, I'll suggest trying Bison, too.

You keep paying those high prices, odds are you might live on life support systems a month or two longer than the rest of us! (y)

Best way to describe Whole foods, (IMH pedestrian O), is "pretentious", and "overpriced"

Bruce Springsteen said, pushing 40 years ago, "poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and a king ain't satisfied til he rules everything". If that doesn't describe Jeff Bezos to a "T", nothing does.

That is another thing we have in common other than a mutual dislike of Musk - a mutual dislike of Bezos. I think that describes Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg among others... Maybe they will duel each other for the title. LOL