Amazon, Whole Foods extend Prime Now delivery

Amazon has brought its Prime Now online grocery delivery service to Whole Foods Market stores in more key markets.

The companies said Wednesday that Whole Foods locations in Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Portland, Ore.; greater Washington, D.C.; and additional parts of New York City have launched Prime Now same-day delivery.

With the expansion, Prime Now is available at Whole Foods stores in 28 cities. Amazon and Whole Foods have said they will be rolling out the service to more markets nationwide this year.

The move enables members of Amazon’s Prime customer benefits program in those cities to shop online from thousands of products — including fresh produce, meat and seafood plus daily essentials and other locally sourced items — from Whole Foods Market.

The move enables members of Amazon’s Prime customer benefits program in those cities to shop thousands of products at Whole Foods — including fresh and organic produce, bakery, dairy, meat and seafood, floral and daily essentials — through PrimeNow.com or the Prime Now app and have their orders delivered to their door in as soon as one hour.

Two-hour delivery is free on orders of $35 or more for Prime members, and one-hour delivery costs $7.99. Prime Now delivery from Whole Foods via is available daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“We’ve been delighted with the customer response to delivery in as little as an hour through Prime Now, and we’re excited to bring the service to our customers in Columbus, Dayton, Portland, greater Washington D.C. and even more neighborhoods in New York City,” said Christina Minardi, executive vice president of operations at Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods. “Just in time for back-to-school shopping, grocery delivery from Whole Foods Market makes getting ready for the new school year with healthy snacks and lunches even more convenient.”

In late July, Prime Now delivery from Whole Foods was expanded to Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Palm Beach, Fla., and made its debut in metropolitan New York, including lower Manhattan and Brooklyn as well as in parts of Long Island. Today’s launch brought the service to Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Union Square and Murray Hill neighborhoods.

Seattle-based Amazon, which acquired Whole Foods in August 2017, launched Prime Now at Whole Foods in February and has steadily deployed it to more large markets.

Other metro areas offering the service from Whole Foods include Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, San Antonio, Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, Richmond (Va.), Denver, Sacramento, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Austin, Cincinnati, Dallas and Virginia Beach.

Earlier this month, Amazon kicked off Prime Now grocery pickup — in as soon as 30 minutes — from Whole Foods stores in Sacramento and Virginia Beach and plans to roll out the service to more cities in 2018. Prime members place their orders using the Prime Now app and select the pickup option at checkout. Customers can get free pickup in an hour on orders of $35 or in 30 minutes for a $4.99 fee. After arriving at their chosen Whole Foods store, shoppers park in a designated pickup spot and a Prime Now shopper will load the groceries into their car.