With traffic and sales falling at Whole Foods due to competition from food retailers selling natural and organic products at lower prices, the company has started to offer discounts and began rolling out a customer loyalty program.
The discounts come in the form of digital coupons available on the Whole Foods mobile app, and company officials says the adoption rate so far has been very high. The loyalty program, launched initially in Dallas and here in Philadelphia, provide member-only deals like 10% off purchases and rewards points that lead to free products. The program is set to roll out nationwide in 2017.
Whole Foods is hoping to achieve results similar to what Starbucks experienced when they introduced a loyalty program in 2009. Starbucks now has more than 12 million users and more than $1 billion in prepaid value. The program is cited as a major reason that Starbucks has been able to grow same-store sales year after year.