Move Over, Amazon: Whole Foods Market Adds Grocery Home Delivery to Its Offerings
Your Whole Foods Market obsession just got a little bit more intimate: the natural and organic-focused retailer has announced plans to start a grocery home delivery service in select cities.
The company made the announcement last week in what some analysts say is an attempt to boost its sales, which have been have been falling in some store locations and categories. Whole Foods’ stock prices have also fallen from $65 last October to $40 last week.
The natural and organic food market has also become a focus for retail giants including Target and Walmart, impinging on Whole Foods’ market leader position.
According to International Business Times, Whole Foods Market will begin home delivery service September 1. “[W]e are expanding our reach to customers outside our stores,” Walter Robb, co-chief executive officer said in a conference call with reporters last week: “Through strategic partnerships, we will offer home delivery and customer pickup in 12 to 15 major markets and launch our first online subscription club by calendar year end. Next year, we expect to offer direct ship in several key categories.”
While company representatives did not make details on the roll out of the program clear, the move puts Whole Foods alongside a growing market of grocery home delivery services including Amazon, Fresh Direct, Abe’s Market and PeaPod, as well as scores of regional delivery services.
The announcement is good news from the chain which has been inundated with lawsuits lately; two separate suits in the last two months allege Whole Foods Market misrepresented its products by promoting them as “all-natural” when they contain artificial ingredients.
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