Amazon is launching curbside pickups at Whole Foods stores

Amazon boxes are seen stacked for delivery in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 29, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar - GF10000289383

It's launched in two cities already. Image: REUTERS/Mike Segar

Reuters Staff

Amazon.com Inc on Wednesday said it was launching curbside pickup at Whole Foods stores, in its latest tactic to win over U.S. grocery shoppers.

Customers can place orders via Amazon’s Prime Now app and ask to have groceries loaded into their car upon arrival at a store, the company said in a statement. The service is now available in Sacramento, California, and in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with plans to launch in other cities this year.

The world’s largest online retailer is working to crack the $800 billion market for U.S. groceries by popularizing delivery from Whole Foods stores, and now pickup. Cheaper than delivery, pickup has long been touted by far larger grocery companies Kroger Co and Walmart Inc, which have been rolling out the service to thousands of stores.

Whole Foods has 467 U.S. stores and roughly 1 percent share of the fragmented U.S. grocery market. Amazon bought the chain last year in a $13.7 billion deal, and since then it has lowered prices and added delivery services so it could begin capturing shoppers’ weekly spending on groceries.

Customers of the new pickup service will get designated parking spots at stores, Amazon said. They must be members of Amazon’s subscription club Prime to use the service.

Amazon said pickup in an hour is free for orders of at least $35, while pickup in 30 minutes costs $4.99.

Have you read?
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Future of Consumption

Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Future of Consumption is affecting economies, industries and global issues
World Economic Forum logo

Forum Stories newsletter

Bringing you weekly curated insights and analysis on the global issues that matter.

Subscribe today

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2025 World Economic Forum