More Whole Foods locations get Prime Now Pickup

Amazon has rolled out Prime Now Pickup to Whole Foods Market stores in another eight metropolitan areas.

The companies said Wednesday that the click-and-collect service is now available at Whole Foods locations in Birmingham, Ala.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Long Island, N.Y.; Milwaukee; Salt Lake City; San Antonio; Tacoma, Wash.; and Tulsa, Okla.

Launched in early August in Sacramento, Calif., Virginia Beach, Va., Prime Now curbside pickup is now offered in 22 markets. Late last month, the service launched at Whole Foods stores in Las Vegas, San Diego and Boise, Idaho, as well as in Jacksonville, Tampa and West Palm Beach, Fla.

Grocery pickup in an hour is free for Amazon Prime members on orders of at least $35 but carries a $4.99 fee for orders to be ready in 30 minutes. Customers park in a designated pickup spot, and a Prime Now personal shopper puts the groceries into their car. Amazon noted that customers can have their orders ready upon arrival by using the Prime Now app to provide notification when on their way to the store.

Members can shop thousands of items for pickup at Whole Foods, including fresh and organic produce, bakery, dairy, meat, seafood, floral and daily essentials. Customers in Long Island, San Antonio and Tacoma also can order select alcohol online for store pickup.

“Pickup from Whole Foods Market is a perfect option for customers who want to grab healthy and organic groceries at their convenience, all without leaving their car,” Christina Minardi, executive vice president of operations at Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods, said in a statement. “Grocery delivery through Prime Now has been a hit with our customers, and we’re happy to expand the option of grocery pickup to even more Prime members across eight new cities.”

Prime Now delivery is now offered at Whole Foods Markets in 63 cities. The service, launched in February, most recently made its debut in Albuquerque, N.M.; Birmingham; Boise; Charleston, S.C.; Colorado Springs; Hartford and Stamford, Conn.; Kansas City, Mo.; Providence, R.I.; and Salt Lake City.

Yesterday, Seattle-based Amazon announced that Prime Now delivery and pickup via Whole Foods will be available on Thanksgiving Day until 2 p.m. Online orders can be delivered or picked up in less than an hour, and beer, wine and liquor can be purchased for delivery or pickup in select cities.

Last year, the most popular food items ordered by Prime members in the 24-hour lead-up to Thanksgiving included russet potatoes, Daisy sour cream, Organic Valley and Eggland’s Best eggs, yellow onions, Reddi Wip whipped cream, Martinelli's Gold Medal sparkling cider, blueberries, baby carrots and Libby's pumpkin, according to Amazon. The top 10 cities where Prime members used the one-hour delivery service leading up to the holiday were Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Dallas, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Miami, Las Vegas, Austin and Sacramento.

Amazon has garnered a high level of customer satisfaction with its online grocery service, ahead of Instacart, Walmart and supermarkets and other food stores, according to the Retail Feedback Group’s (RFG) 2018 Online Grocery Shopper Study, released on Tuesday.

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best, shoppers surveyed rated their satisfaction with Amazon’s grocery service at an average of 4.70, compared with 4.59 for Instacart, 4.54 for Walmart and 4.36 for supermarkets/food stores, RFG’s report said. Seventy-four percent of respondents rated Amazon’s service at the top score of 5, followed by 73% for Instacart, 65% for Walmart and 51% for supermarkets/food stores.

Customers gave Amazon’s e-grocery service high marks in such areas as checkout, website/app performance, delivery and store pickup, selection, and the quality and freshness of the items ordered.