It’s no secret that shopping at Whole Foods is not the most cost-effective way to purchase your groceries. The health food store is notorious for having high prices for pretty much everything they sell, something that prevents a lot of potential customers from shopping there. In the past, Whole Foods has been dragged on the internet for selling things like asparagus water for $5.99 (which is literally just asparagus stalks in water) and peeled oranges for $5.99 for each individual fruit.
Basically, it might be the place for plenty of organic, all-natural options, but it’s not where you’re going to go when you want a bargain. And even in today’s culture (in which we arguably care a bit more about what we put inside our bodies), a lot of people don’t want to spend a ton of money on their food, even if it’s on healthier options — especially when there are less expensive options out there to choose from. The frustration surrounding the store started to change a little bit, though, when Amazon bought Whole Foods and began offering a discount for Prime members.
And now, things might be changing even more: Amazon has announced that Whole Foods prices will be getting even lower in the near future, which almost sounds too good to be true. As it turns out, it kind of is.
Amazon is kind of tricking customers into thinking Whole Foods prices have lowered. Really, this whole thing could basically be an ad for Amazon Prime.
Earlier this week, Amazon announced that Whole Foods would be going through a round of price cuts that would mean that hundreds of items would be discounted.
The average savings would be 20 percent, and it would include items like produce, seasonal items, and more.
Amazon is slashing prices on hundreds of products at Whole Foods for the third time in two years https://t.co/ut8wPC8Sqz pic.twitter.com/AcuZx6zlXm
— CNN (@CNN) April 2, 2019
The press release also stated that Amazon Prime members would be saving even more with double the number of exclusive weekly Prime Member deals and deeper discounts.
The release promised that, “over the next few months, customers can expect more than 300 Prime member deals on some of the season’s most popular items.”
Amazon is struggling to convince Prime members to go to Whole Foods. So it's slashing prices https://t.co/3rRWBck7qW pic.twitter.com/AssJKy3N6N
— CNN (@CNN) April 3, 2019
The company said that this is their “biggest investment in lowering prices and expanding Prime member deals to date.” That definitely sounds enticing!
But here’s the thing: These savings are really more for Prime members than for shoppers who aren’t Prime members. Basically, if you aren’t a member, you aren’t winning here.
So, as Eater points out, this new price cut is really more like an advertisement for Amazon Prime. It’s basically saying, “spend $119 a year on Prime, and you can get these amazing Whole Foods deals too!” Which has us like:
Of course, there are still deals for non-Prime members… just not nearly as many. In fact, the New York Times even tested out the price cuts to discover this.
The conclusion of their experiment? Reporters who did not use a Prime membership with the new price cuts saved a total of five cents. Five cents!
The two reporters carried out the experiment by each buying the same basket of everyday groceries over two days before the price cuts happened and after. They found that some things weren’t cheaper at all, and that for daily grocery shopping, the price cuts barely helped. If they had been Prime members, they would have saved a little bit more (about 3 percent).
So, really, either way, the price cuts weren’t fantastic, according to this experiment.
Amazon is cutting more prices at Whole Foods in a bid to lose the ‘Whole Paycheck’ image https://t.co/pqIp160hnh via @WSJ pic.twitter.com/FgQykv6fBC
— WSJ Graphics (@WSJGraphics) April 2, 2019
Customers on social media didn’t seem very excited about the price cuts either. Some feel that the store will never get less expensive:
Others mocked the price cut that Amazon Prime members already get. To be fair, it is kind of low.
Damn, you mean I can save more than the 10% off I got yesterday on strawberries?
— Ally McCarthy (@AllyCleaves) April 2, 2019
Some people feel that the price cut means the quality of the food will go down. Who knows?
It is very difficult for me to see slashing prices without slashing quality.
— smtddr (smtddr.bsky.social) (@SMTDDR) April 2, 2019
But some people agreed that the price cuts were a step in the right direction. One user hoped it would make the store more inclusive to people with all kinds of budgets.
Other people joked that they were on their way to shop there. It worked for some!
Slashed prices you say? pic.twitter.com/i2q7aBGrns
— Azer Niwde (@AzerIwde) April 3, 2019
All of that said, it’s frustrating that these price cuts really only affect Prime members. And that they aren’t helping lowering the grocery bill very much.
There are plenty of great things about an Amazon Prime membership, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t pricey. Not everyone has an extra $119 a year to spend on that membership. And if you don’t take full advantage of it, then the discount you’re getting at Whole Foods really isn’t making a difference at all.
So, while this price cut sounds great, maybe it isn’t quite as wonderful as it seems. That’s definitely disappointing!
At the end of the day, price cuts are great! As long as they actually make sense. And this one really only does for a certain group of people, so it’s just something to keep in mind.
