The article highlights somewhat an issue I've been noticing for the past year, the battle between in-person shoppers and online order fulfillers. It's a very odd dynamic when half the store is huge carts being navigated quickly by people simultaneously staring down at their phones most of the time.
I'm very surprised Amazon didn't just replicate Whole Foods inventory in their Amazon Fresh warehouses and optimize that channel for online orders (like putting the most commonly ordered items together, unlike current grocery stores that intentionally put the eggs and milk in the furthest point from the door.) Seems like there has to be a better solution for all parties involved.
I've idly wondered how good those order pullers are, both those working for the store itself and those working for Instacart. Memorize the store layout, reorder your list, and you could blaze through it -- not the efficiency of an Amazon warehouse, but more efficient than a casual grocery shopper. (Even one like me, who rather enjoys grocery shopping and knows where most of my common items are.)
I was already cutting back on Whole Foods before the plague, and now I avoid it. Working at home means it's now less convenient anyway, there are closer markets. At least around here, there's alternative sources for almost anything WF has.
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[ 153 ms ] story [ 173 ms ] threadI'm very surprised Amazon didn't just replicate Whole Foods inventory in their Amazon Fresh warehouses and optimize that channel for online orders (like putting the most commonly ordered items together, unlike current grocery stores that intentionally put the eggs and milk in the furthest point from the door.) Seems like there has to be a better solution for all parties involved.