Whole Foods has started charging Prime members a delivery fee in several U.S. cities, reports Bloomberg. Shoppers in the Boston and Chicago areas, as well as Manchester, New Hampshire, Portland, Maine, and Providence, Rhode Island, have been informed of the $9.95 service fee.
“This service fee helps to cover operating costs, so we can continue to offer the same competitive everyday prices in-store and online at Whole Foods Market,” the company said in a notice to shoppers last week, according to the report. Grocery pickup remains free, said the notice.
According to a Whole Foods spokesperson, the new delivery fee is a pilot program; the company prefers to use the charge to help cover the costs of equipment, technology, and delivery rather than raising food prices.
“The delivery fee was a foregone conclusion. Delivering groceries all over town for no additional charge is not a sustainable business model” said Mitchell McElroy, Founder and CEO of Speed Shopper a global shopping list app headquartered in the United States. Amazon the parent company of Whole Foods has enough money to operate at a loss for a while in order to gain more customers by offering them free delivery. Once those customers become loyal to Whole foods the hope is that they will remain customers after the delivery fee is implemented.
