Amazon is raising prices at Whole Foods after its highly-publicized cuts (WFM)

pulse

December 5, 2017 3:59 PM

Whole Foods' prices have increased 1% since the end of September, according to a new analysis.

Prices are now just 1.1% lower than before the Amazon acquisition.
The prices of produce fell 4.9%, while snack foods rose 5.2%, dry grocery rose 2.5%, beverages and bakery each rose 1.3%, and frozen goods rose 1.3%.

Whole Foods' prices are creeping back up after highly-publicized cuts following its acquisition by Amazon, according to an analysis by the research firm Gordon Haskett.

The firm checked prices on 110 items at a Whole Foods store in Princeton, New Jersey, and found that the cost of the total basket of items has increased 1% since the end of September.

The average price increase on each item was about 1.6%, the firm said.

The findings are surprising, given the "myriad of positive press" around Amazon's price cuts at Whole Foods since the acquisition, Gordon Haskett analyst Chuck Grom wrote.

Whole Foods' prices are now just 1.1% lower than before the Amazon deal closed in August, according to the data.

Amazon's promise of price cuts drew new shoppers to Whole Foods following the acquisition. Whole Foods will have to keep offering lower prices if it wants to keep those shoppers around, Grom wrote.

"Demonstrating lower prices to this new customer will be critical to the early success of the integration, in our view – first impressions are the most lasting," he said.

Most of the latest price increases affected dry, packaged goods, according to the price study. At the same time, there were some price cuts in produce and dairy.

The prices of produce fell 4.9%, while snack foods rose 5.2%, dry grocery rose 2.5%, beverages and bakery each rose 1.3%, and frozen goods rose 1.3%.

pulse