Amazon Prime has invaded Whole Foods stores, but an important word is notably absent
- Amazon has fully infiltrated Whole Foods stores as its discounts for Prime members have been expanded to all US locations.
- But while Prime is fully integrated into the store, the word "Amazon" is nowhere to be seen.
- Amazon's brand has become increasingly loaded as it draws detractors across demographics.
Amazon has officially left its mark on Whole Foods stores - though not with its name.
Discounts for Amazon Prime members have now rolled out to all Whole Foods stores across the country. The signage is plentiful and immediately apparent. The in-store advertising looks to be on every surface imaginable, as seen in a recent walk-through of a Whole Foods store by Business Insider's Hayley Peterson.
One thing that is missing: the word Amazon. The new deals in Whole Foods are specifically called "Prime deals," not "Amazon Prime deals." None of the signage or materials mention the word Amazon, and there's no orange - Amazon's usual color - as Prime's blue hue instead takes on a dominant role. There is some yellow, but that was the color that Whole Foods had already used to mark sales.
Not even Whole Foods' new app, which customers open to scan a barcode at checkout in order to access discounts, mentions Amazon.
Amazon recently refreshed Prime's branding, dropping "Amazon" in favor of simplifying it to just Prime. This divorces Prime from Amazon itself, instead making it a sort of membership for all of Amazon's offerings, like Whole Foods, and to a much lesser extent, the video-game streaming platform Twitch.
But the separation could be for another reason, as Amazon becomes a more loaded brand than it had been previously. Instead of just standing for stellar customer service and reliably delivered packages, to some Amazon is also an outrageously successful company that is taking advantage of its position, Business Insider's Kate Taylor reported.
Amazon has fielded criticism for things like pitting cities against each other in its ongoing second headquarters search, and for refusing to take NRATV off Prime Video. A study by Policy Matters Ohio in January found that 700 Amazon workers in the state received food stamps benefits.
As Amazon now tries to get its clutches around the roughly 25% of Whole Foods shoppers who aren't already Prime members, not mentioning the word "Amazon" might actually be easier.