Dive Brief:
- The new Whole Foods in Bridgewater, N.J., will sell not only organic avocados and turnips but also "home, beauty and garden goods rooted in nature” in store-within-a-store Plant & Plate, Co.Design reports.
- Genevieve Monette, whole body coordinator for Whole Foods, told Co.Design that the change is not tied to Amazon’s recent purchase of the grocer. Plant & Plate will sell items such as candles, pottery or copper bowls made from local vendors.
- Housewares have some of the biggest markups in retail — as high as 60%, Monette said. Although Whole Foods declined to share sales information in the report, she noted housewares can serve as an impulse buy for customers, and are more profitable because inventory is not perishable.
Dive Insight:
As grocers fight for market space against nontraditional stores now selling food products, Whole Foods is now using the same strategy by expanding its offerings beyond its typical fruits, vegetables and other grocery goods. The company has always carried a specific lifestyle aura, and Monette acknowledged that Plant & Plate builds on that idea, while also hopefully bringing in quick and profitable sales.
Whole Foods is not the first grocer to move in this direction. German grocery chain Lidl launched its own similar collection earlier this year, letting shoppers buy coffee tables, cotton rugs or touch lamps along with their bread or broccoli. Lidl has gone even further by selling a line of Heidi Klum’s sneakers as well.
Beyond selling new products, grocers are hoping partnerships with retailers will boost sales. Kohl’s announced in March it will place up to 10 Aldi pilots in or near its stores. Many industry insiders see that as a win-win for both stores, giving Aldi the exposure it is looking for and getting more foot traffic into Kohl’s department stores. Both outfits are known for cost-conscious prices and are likely to appeal to the similar customers. That’s true for Whole Foods and Plant & Plate, who are likely to appeal to the same buyer.
The addition of Whole Foods' houseware line, however, comes at a time when no one is sure exactly how Amazon intends to maximize its purchase of the organic grocer. Although Monette denied that the online retailing giant had an influence on the decision to launch Plant & Plate, it’s hard to ignore the benefits the new venture could bring. First, Amazon has been a store without a brick-and-mortar footprint. Plant & Plate provides that, and it’s easy to see how shoppers clicking on a Whole Foods website to purchase milk and butter might easily browse the housewares dropdown before heading to the e-checkout.
Amazon has already crept into Whole Foods with nonfood items. The company announced recently it will sell Amazon devices like its Echo, Fire TV and Kindle e-reader at more than 100 Whole Foods stores ahead of this holiday season, according to a news release. The retail giant also announced in November its plans to launch pop-up shops at several Whole Foods, featuring Amazon devices as well as staff members offering demos and promoting the company’s Prime, Prime Video and other services.
As consumers increasingly call for convenience in shopping, perhaps grocery chains are looking at big box stores that sell a little bit of everything, such as Target, Costco or Walmart, and seeing the one-stop-shop as a way both to attract more customers and boost the bottom line by selling items with higher profit margins. With all new recent innovations in the grocery store, only time will tell whether this is a convenience consumers are really looking for.