Following his announcement that he would relinquishing the position of CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos indicated that his future involvement will include development of the grocery components of the behemoth.  Since the acquisition of Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion in mid 2017, financial performance of the chain has been consolidated in Amazon financial reports.  It is understood that the in-store components of Amazon including Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go, Amazon Fresh and number of smaller gift outlets posted a seven percent decline in total sales to $4 billion in the fourth quarter ending January 31st 2020. Sales value fulfilled by delivery or pickup are included in the online sales component that grew by 43 percent during the fourth quarter.

Observers noted that Whole Foods Market with a strong urban-focus has suffered during COVID shutdowns due to the disinclination by customers to shop in brick and mortar stores.  High technology as installed in Go and Amazon Fresh should hopefully regain custom with traffic increasing in these banners.

Amazon has announced their intention of establishing 2,000 grocery retail locations across the U.S. with 750 under the Whole Foods Market banner and the remainder as Amazon Fresh.