With the COVID-19 pandemic stretching across the United States, it has left Amazon and Whole Foods scrambling to keep up with demand while also keeping its employees safe. After sidelining its delivery service and extending return windows, today Amazon is rolling out additional changes to its Whole Foods delivery with virtual waiting lines and other safeguards for shoppers. Amazon is walking the fine line of keeping its grocery store operation open while also ensuring safety for its workers and shoppers. Today’s changes are logical steps in that direction. Head below for full details on the latest news from Amazon and Whole Foods.
Amazon makes additional Whole Foods COVID-19 changes
Today, Amazon is introducing virtual waiting lines that will give Whole Foods customers a “secure time to shop” and ensure that proper social distancing is in place at all times. Additionally, over demand for at-home grocery delivery is causing the online giant to make even more changes to Whole Foods shopping opportunities.
If you’re interested in visiting a local Whole Foods, you’ll need to enter into a virtual waiting line, and you’ll then be assigned a time to shop, either for delivery or in-store. While this might be frustrating, the idea is that it keeps shoppers from competing for select time slots and keeps everything fair and more predictable along the way. It also ensures that physical Whole Foods locations are not over-burdened during this time.
Additional changes announced today include:
- Performing daily employee temperature checks and distributing masks and gloves across our Amazon and Whole Foods Markets stores.
- Providing plexiglass barriers between cashiers and customers at checkout in Whole Foods Market stores.
- Enhanced cleanliness and sanitation protocols across all stores and facilities, on top of our standard stringent protocols.
- Enforcing social distancing guidelines, including restricting the number of customers and employees based on the size of the store.
- Adjusting store hours giving team members more time to restock shelves and sanitize stores.
What’s next for Whole Foods and Amazon?
Amazon is expected to continue to adjust its Whole Foods offerings in the coming months as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves over time. As different hotspots continue to emerge and other areas calm down, you can expect to see Amazon relax its restrictions in some locations, while tightening up others in the United States. We’ll continue to bring you all of the latest news here at 9to5Toys, as it’s proving to be difficult to keep up with all of the adjustments week to week.
More Amazon coverage from 9to5Toys:
- Amazon’s delivery service rivaling UPS and FedEx set aside amid pandemic
- Our guide to Amazon’s changes during the COVID-19 outbreak
- Amazon extends product return window in the midst of COVID-19
- Hungry? Here’s how to leverage Whole Foods delivery during social distancing
Source: Amazon
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