A new automated micro-fulfillment centre at a Whole Foods Market in Pennsylvania lets customers simultaneously purchase natural, organic, and national name-brand products for online delivery or in-store pickup.
Customers can quickly and easily shop Whole Foods Market’s full selection of natural and organic grocery items alongside national name-brand groceries and everyday essentials from Amazon all in one location, giving them more of what they want in one stop or one order when shopping online for grocery delivery or pickup.
“We’ve always taken pride in offering a wide selection of natural and organic products, but we understand our customers appreciate the convenience of one-stop shopping,” said Jason Buechel, Vice President of Amazon Worldwide Grocery Stores and CEO of Whole Foods Market.
“We’re making grocery shopping more convenient for customers by thoughtfully blending our grocery offerings and leveraging new fulfillment capabilities in creative ways. This new concept store experience allows customers to get everything on their shopping list in one convenient stop or one online order, combining quality with convenience while still delivering the exceptional shopping experience customers expect.”
Investing in convenience
To enable this expanded selection, Amazon constructed a 10,000-square-foot automated micro-fulfillment centre within the existing store’s back-of-house area. This micro-fulfillment centre houses over 12,000 unique items from Whole Foods Market and Amazon.
The new micro-fulfillment centre utilises technology from Fulfil, a Silicon Valley robotics company. Unlike traditional systems designed for general e-commerce, Fulfil’s platform was built specifically for grocery. The system uses autonomous ShopBots to sort, retrieve, and stage products across all temperature zones – keeping fulfillment activities behind the scenes to minimise disruption to the in-store experience.
The system efficiently manages both Whole Foods Market inventory and the extended Amazon selection from a single automated facility. Orders are prepared within minutes before handoff to an employee who then finalises it for customer delivery or pickup.
The shopping experience
Shoppers at the Plymouth Meeting location will find QR codes throughout the store. Once scanned with their smartphone camera, the QR code will open up their Amazon app and take them to a custom mobile storefront. From there, they will have access to thousands of additional products available beyond the store shelves.
When ready, often in less than 10 minutes, customers will receive a text notification to collect their Amazon items at the Amazon Pickup & Returns Counter after finishing up their Whole Foods Market shopping.
Local customers shopping Whole Foods Market online can also benefit from this expanded selection. When shopping the Whole Foods Market online store, they will discover an expanded product selection that includes a wide selection of everyday essentials and national name-brand groceries from Amazon.
Amazon plans to refine and expand this offering to additional stores over time.
