Fulfil robots power Amazon’s first Whole Foods micro-fulfilment centre
A 10,000 sq ft automated facility inside a Pennsylvania store combines grocery and household inventory, with ShopBots retrieving products across temperature zones.
Amazon has opened a Fulfil-powered automated micro-fulfilment centre inside its Whole Foods Market in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. The 10,000 sq ft installation holds more than 12,000 items and lets customers combine Whole Foods groceries with national-brand food, personal-care products and household essentials in one shopping trip or online order.
Fulfil’s autonomous ShopBots sort, retrieve and stage goods across ambient, chilled and frozen storage areas. The facility manages both Whole Foods inventory and the additional Amazon selection behind the shop floor. Robots prepare orders for handoff to employees, who complete the customer pickup or delivery process.
In-store shoppers scan QR codes to open a dedicated storefront in the Amazon app and add products that are held in the automated centre. They receive a text when the items are ready, often in less than ten minutes, and collect them at the store’s pickup counter. Online customers can place a combined order for curbside collection or delivery through the same grocery storefront.
The opening follows Amazon’s October 2024 announcement of an automated centre for Whole Foods customers. That programme formed part of its work to combine products from Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh and Amazon.com. Plymouth Meeting brings the concept into an existing store, using back-of-house robotics to expand the available assortment while preserving the public shopping area.