If you’ve ever cringed as you watched your items rung up at the Whole Foods checkout counter, take heart—there are pleasant surprises ahead for your grocery bill. Amazon’s major acquisition of Whole Foods is set to close Monday, August 28, according to a press release, and with it is coming some immediate price drops. As in, today.
While the effects from massive acquisitions like this one typically take time to kick in, it’s not exactly Amazon’s style to move slowly. You’ll notice some of Whole Foods’ best-selling staples dip in price right away, including organic and fair-trade products as well as items from their generic 365 Everyday Value line. And there’s more where that came from soon, Amazon promises.
“We’re determined to make healthy and organic food affordable for everyone,” Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer, said in the announcement. “Everybody should be able to eat Whole Foods Market quality.” He also noted that this doesn’t mean sacrificing Whole Foods’ commitment to stocking and supporting local products and suppliers—in fact, there’s plans to expand their local eating initiatives.
The immediate price drops are only the beginning of the changes you’ll see, though. The release also laid out Amazon’s other grand plans for Whole Foods stores and customers. For starters, Prime members will begin to see exclusive savings and in-store benefits. Eventually, Prime will be Whole Foods’ customer rewards program.
Going even further, Amazon Lockers will start popping up in Whole Foods stores, so you can ship your never-ending stream of Amazon packages to a store and pick it up along with your bananas and peanut butter—which is particularly handy if you live in a place with package-stealing bandits. Even better, you’ll be able to return Amazon goods there, too. And if you don’t actually feel like stepping foot in a grocery store, you’ll also begin to be able to buy Whole Foods’ private label products on Amazon.com, AmazonFresh, Prime Pantry and Prime Now soon.
Amazon’s new role in Whole Foods just might change the grocery shopping game as we know it over time. But for now, we’ll be enjoying these 10 confirmed immediate price drops—and keeping our eyes open for more.