Whole Foods Sign by Counse via Flickr
In an unexpected move by e-commerce giant Amazon, the company has announced that they have purchased the popular, high-end grocery chain Whole Foods in a deal worth $13.7 billion. Since opening its first brick-and-mortar stores in the past several months, there have been additional reports indicating Amazon's interest in the grocery business, and this acquisition of Whole Foods seems to be the right steps in that direction.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos mentioned in a press release that “Whole Foods Market has been satisfying, delighting and nourishing customers for nearly four decades – they’re doing an amazing job and we want that to continue,” and it is also worthwhile to note that this purchase is Amazon's biggest yet. Although Whole Foods will continue to operate under its established brand and under the supervision of its current CEO John Mackey, Mackey seems eager to allow this partnership "to maximize value for Whole Foods Market’s shareholders, while at the same time extending our mission and bringing the highest quality, experience, convenience and innovation to [their] customers." We're interested to see how e-commerce-based Amazon and brick-and-mortar master Whole Foods will combine forces to redefine grocery shopping.
In more retail news, another retail giant has bought Bonobos, a men's clothing company. Walmart has acquired Bonobos for $310 million in a steadfast effort to improve their business strategy by expanding product selections and shopping options to better compete with Amazon in the online world. In contrast to the continued operation of Whole Foods under its current CEO, Bonobos CEO and founder Andy Dunn will now report to CEO and president of Walmart U.S., Marc Lore. Walmart only recently acquired ModCloth in March of this year as well, and this comes during a time when Walmart is experiencing substantial growth in e-commerce sales.
As these two retail titans work hard to redefine e-commerce, our curiosity lies in where the shopper loyalty will remain as Walmart makes its online presence more and more competitive. Let us know in the comments what you think of this news!
