Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Ends Partnership With Grocery Delivery Service Instacart | Eater SF

"This coming spring, in-store shoppers for Instacart will pack their final bags at Whole Foods Market, after Instacart announced yesterday it is ending the partnership that began in 2014 and was complicated by Amazon’s acquisition of the chain in 2017. Instacart’s 1,415 in-store shoppers currently work across 76 Whole Foods stores in the US; 243 will be out of Whole Foods stores by February 10, with the rest winding down over the following months. Instacart emphasizes that most of its shoppers work across multiple stores, says more than 75 affected shoppers will find work in other stores, and promises a three-month severance package for the remainder. The split follows Amazon rolling out Prime Now Whole Foods delivery in March (replicating programs already available in Dallas, Austin, Virginia, and elsewhere), which is a particular bummer for San Francisco Instacart users who don’t have Amazon Prime. Still, Whole Foods represents just five percent of Instacart’s overall revenue, and Instacart has been securing deals with Kroger, Aldi, and Sam’s Club while raising $871 million in new funding." - Caleb Pershan