Price cuts lure more shoppers to Whole Foods stores: tracking firms

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Amazon.com's recent price cuts at Whole Foods drew more shoppers to its newly acquired natural and organic grocery chain, according to two companies that track retail traffic.

Whole Foods experienced a more than 25 percent jump in national foot traffic on Monday and Tuesday last week, after the price cuts went into effect, according to Foursquare, which analyzes the movements of more than 2.5 million Americans in its foot traffic panel.

Increases varied by region. New York locations were up less than 15 percent, while Chicago stores logged a more than 35 percent jump, said Foursquare. On Thursday, the firm said it plans to revisit the data at month end.

Orbital Insight, which monitored business at 294 Whole Foods locations with parking lots, saw a traffic increase of more than 15 percent two days after the price cut announcement. Those stores account for about 65 percent of Whole Foods locations.

Two weeks after the announcement, traffic was up, but only by 5 percent, Orbital said.  

Amazon, which fought for years to get significant traction with its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service, bought Whole Foods in a $13.7 billion deal that has rattled a U.S. grocery sector already in the midst of a brutal price war.

In its first major move as owner of Whole Foods, Amazon on Aug. 28 slashed prices on staples like beef and organic apples, in some cases by more than 40 percent, in a bid to shake the specialty grocer's "Whole Paycheck" reputation for inflated prices.

Representatives from Whole Foods and Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.