In February, Amazon announced it would begin to deliver from Whole Foods markets via its Prime Now service, which offers free, two-hour deliveries for purchases over $35 and even faster, one-hour delivery for an upcharge of $7.99. The service was initially available in only four markets — Austin, Cincinnati, Dallas and Virginia Beach. Today, Amazon is expanding Whole Foods deliveries to Denver, Sacramento and San Diego.
The choice of Denver as one of the earlier markets to receive the option is interesting, given that the city has been a test market for Walmart’s online grocery efforts for years.
In fact, it was the first to offer a grocery pickup option back in 2014. Grocery pickup is now available at more than 1,200 U.S. Walmart stores, and Walmart’s grocery delivery is expected to reach 100 markets by year-end. Walmart also announced today it’s now working with DoorDash as a delivery partner in Atlanta, which joins Walmart’s longtime partners on grocery delivery, Uber and Deliv.
Though Walmart has been working in online grocery for years, Amazon is scaling up fast. Walmart says it will reach more than 40 percent of U.S. households via its expansion this year, but it was only offering delivery in six markets as of March.
Amazon’s Whole Foods deliveries, with today’s news, is live in 10 markets. This includes its other recent expansions to Atlanta, San Francisco and L.A. If it continues to expand across Prime Now’s footprint, it would reach dozens of major metros nationwide.
As before, Prime Now shoppers can place their Whole Foods orders for delivery between 8 AM and 10 PM. The product selection includes thousands of fresh and organic produce, bakery, dairy, meat and seafood, floral and everyday staples.
In Sacramento and San Diego, Whole Foods can also deliver alcohol through Prime Now.
“We’ve been delighted with the customer response to free two-hour delivery through Prime Now, and we’re excited to bring the service to our customers in Denver, Sacramento and San Diego,” said Christina Minardi, Whole Foods Market executive vice president of Operations, in a statement. “Today’s announcement is another way that we are continuing to expand access to our high-quality products and locally-sourced favorites.”
Whole Foods is only one option for some of Prime Now’s markets, as the service also partners with other local stores like Sprouts, Fresh Thyme, New Season Market and others. Amazon also operates AmazonFresh, a grocery delivery service available in parts of the U.S.
