More recently the company has deployed various physical retail concepts, some with the aim of making people comfortable with the concept of buying food from Amazon and eventually nudging them to move a big part of their grocery shopping online.
The high-end American grocer is planning to operate its network of stores under the same brand, and maintain its current executive team.
Completion of Amazon's purchase is subject to approval by Whole Foods' shareholders, regulatory OKs and other closing conditions. Its convenience store model, AmazonGo, is still in beta testing.
AmazonFresh is already experimenting with a "click and collect" system: Shoppers buy groceries online, then pick them up in person.
"They're doing an unbelievable job and we want that to continue", Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said. "Whole Foods Market has been satisfying, delighting and nourishing customers for almost four decades - they're doing an fantastic job and we want that to continue".
The deal also allows Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey to remain as head of the company he started.
Nikkei falls after weak USA data overshadows Fed hike; financials underperform
Also on Wednesday, a prominent Republican was among those shot by a gunman said to be angry with Trump. The euro was down 0.3 percent at $1.1183, a six-day low, while the yen was flat at 109.58 per dollar.
And the prospect of an Amazon-Whole Foods marriage could, at least in investors' minds, hasten that reality-or at least make it easier for Amazon to break into the pharmacy space with the advantage of brick-and-mortar locations which may be more palatable for patients picking up their prescriptions.
Similarly, Instacart was not privy to the news that Amazon was acquiring Whole Foods until the deal became public on Friday.
Amazon. Investors like the deal and think it will be good for the online retail giant, which has been expanding its grocery offerings.
Whole Foods has more than 460 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods itself had launched an offshoot chain named after its "365" private label brand in a nod to the popularity of no-frills chains. Broward is home to five Whole Markets stores.
Amazon says in a statement that it has "no plans to use the technology developed for Amazon Go to automate the jobs of cashiers at Whole Foods". And it should be able to bring cost-cutting technologies, such as robots to move inventory around, while the company gets a better picture of customers by marrying data from Amazon and Whole Foods' loyalty programs.
What does this mean for Whole Foods prices? The stock weighed the most on the S&P 500 and the Dow. But those involved expect the deal to close in the second half of the year.
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