When Amazon announced its acquisition of Whole Foods back in June, the expectation was that the deal would cause major disruptions to the grocery industry.
The $14-billion purchase is expected to close Monday. In anticipation of the deal’s finalization, Amazon announced yesterday that it plans to lower prices on a number of items at Whole Foods, as well as offers Amazon Prime members a discount.
The news quickly translated to a stock-price hit for a number of grocers, including Costco and Kroger, erasing some $12 billion in market value from these companies.
Guests:
Phil Lempert, a supermarket and consumer behavior expert with the Santa Monica-based market retail firm SupermarketGuru.com; he tweets
Burt P. Flickinger, III, managing director of Strategic Resource Group, a consumer industry consulting firm in New York; he tweets